Sherman Park

Sherman Park is a sixty-acre park in the New City neighborhood of South Side, Chicago.

Sherman Park
LocationBounded by W. 52nd St., Racine Ave., Garfield Blvd., and Loomis St., Chicago, Illinois
Coordinates41°47′48″N 87°39′18″W
Area60.6 acres (24.5 ha)
ArchitectBurnham, D.H. & Co.; Olmsted Bros.
Architectural styleBeaux Arts
MPSChicago Park District MPS
NRHP reference No.90000745[1]
Added to NRHPMay 21, 1990

It was designed by renowned landscape architects John Charles Olmsted and Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., and celebrated Chicago architect Daniel Burnham. It opened in 1905.

The park's recreational facilities include two gymnasiums, a fitness center, a swimming pool, as well as outdoor space for basketball, tennis, baseball, soccer and football.[2]

The park was named for John B. Sherman, Burnham's father-in-law and a founder of Chicago's Union Stock Yards.[3]

The park was designed specifically to enrich the immigrant, working class residents of the surrounding neighborhood.[4]

Murals

In 1912, eight students from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago painted murals in the Sherman Park fieldhouse that came to be known as the American History Series. These murals commemorate events such as the founding of Jamestown in 1607, the Marquette-Joliet Expedition of 1673, and George Rogers Clark's Illinois Campaign of 1778.[5]

Over the years the murals became severely damaged due to accumulated soot and varnish. In 2004, restoration on the murals commenced with the park's inclusion in the Mural Preservation Effort, a joint project between the Chicago Park District and the Chicago Conservation Center.[6] The restoration of the Sherman Park murals was completed in mid-2005.[7]

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. "Sherman Park". Chicago Park District. Retrieved on September 15, 2016.
  3. Sherman Park. Encyclopedia of Chicago. Retrieved on December 7, 2010.
  4. Sherman Park. Biking the Boulevards with Geoffrey Baer. Retrieved on December 7, 2010.
  5. American History Series. Chicago Park District. Retrieved on September 15, 2016.
  6. Barbara Keer. Chicago's Depression-Era Murals Restored. Splash Magazine. Retrieved on September 15, 2016.
  7. Charles Sheehan. Art in parks revival to get financial boost with matching funds. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved on September 15, 2016.


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