Tents cleared from Gompers Park but allowed at section of nearby Eugene Field Park

by BRIAN NADIG

The tent encampment at Gompers Park was cleared on Monday to allow for planned construction, but some of the tents have relocated to a section of Eugene Field Park at the southeast corner of Foster Avenue and Pulaski Road.

As many as two dozen tents were reported last month in “Little Gompers,” the area of the park located south of Foster.

Tents are being allowed on what is sometimes called the “annex” of Eugene Field Park because it is a newer section of the park. The Chicago Park District purchased the parcel, which is located across from Gompers, in 2003 in an effort to help protect a contiguous greenway along the embankment of the North Branch of the Chicago River, which runs through the parcel.

Tents also are being allowed near the southwest corner of the Foster-Pulaski intersection where the Samuel Gompers statue is located, a city official said. That area is part of Gompers Park, although on Monday there reportedly were no tents around the statue.

Last week there were about 15 tents in Little Gompers and about half dozen in the annex area.

On Monday morning, May 12, city crews arrived and removed any remaining tents at Little Gompers and installed a fence where the construction is slated to take place. The planned improvements will include restoration work on the lagoon, the construction of a nature play area and the repaving of the parking lot and pathways.

It is not clear how many of those living at Gompers relocated to the annex. According a resident, a tent appeared to be installed on Monday afternoon near a wood chip path in the Little Gompers area, but it is not clear if the tent was on Chicago Park District property or land possibly controlled by the Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.

In April city crews cleared out a couple of tents that were near the baseball field at Little Gompers, and the Gompers Park Athletic Association is now playing games there.

In the past year, area residents have complained about tent fires at the park, drug use, public indecency, dogs attacking other dogs and people, and other problems at Little Gompers. A woman was robbed at gunpoint while walking her dog at the park, and a man who was living at the park was arrested this year after he reportedly possessed two BB guns and a bullet.

Paper signs recently were posted in the park protesting the city’s efforts to clear the encampment. The signs looked similar to notices posted by the park district stating that the tent encampment needed to be moved by May 12. The paper signs reportedly had been placed over some of the park district’s notices.

The protest signs said that the clearing of the tent encampment represented “the violent destruction of people’s homes” and that the park district’s efforts to ensure the park was available for use by all actually meant those who are “rich, white, racist and own property.”

In early March the city held an “Accelerated Moving Event” at Little Gompers, offering free housing opportunities to those living at the park. Many accepted, but it can take several months before the housing becomes available.

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