Community celebration set for new park in Mayfair
by BRIAN NADIG
The Chicago Park District will hold a community celebration from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, for a new park at 4546 N. Kedvale Ave. that Mayfair residents and merchants donated $50,000 toward the purchase of the land.
The 11,553-square-foot parcel is listed with the park district as “Park 593,” as it has not yet been formally named. Some residents refer to the site, which is bordered by Kedvale, Kasson and Wilson avenues, as “Triangle Park” due to its shape.
Mayfair Civic Association president Ron Duplack said that a ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for the start of the event and that city officials are expected to give more details about the park’s eventual design. Currently the park consists primarily of an old chain-link fence and grass, while a new sidewalk was recently installed around the park.
The park district will be using a landscape architect to design the park, and preliminary plans include a nature-play area, which could include logs and rocks for children to play on, Duplack said. A dog run and a basketball court are not expected to be part of the design, he said.
At previous association meetings, several residents have recommended that the park remain largely open space so that children would have room for soccer and other sports instead of having to play in the street.
The celebration will include activities for families of all ages and refreshments, Duplack said.
The civic association and Mayfair Park Advisory Council led the effort to have the site, where a home once stood, converted into a park. The total acquisition cost of the land reportedly was about $400,000.
The conservation group Openlands worked with community groups and the park district to help secure the land.
In 2016 then-alderman Margaret Laurino testified at a park district board meeting that there was a need for a new park in the neighborhood and that she supported the land’s acquisition.
“Mayfair Park is three-quarters of a mile away and requires children to cross Elston Avenue. Tiny nearby Spikings Farm Playlot is a mere 5,000 square feet and is pressed up against the busy traffic of Pulaski,” Laurino said.
