A Brief History of the Old Chicago Park District Administration Building at Soldier Field. (1939-2001)

An 1895 state act allowed voters within newly annexed areas to create park districts. By 1930, 19 new park districts had been formed, resulting in 22 independent agencies operating simultaneously in the city. The smaller park districts often wanted to build fieldhouses, and many hired local architect Clarence Hatzfeld to design their buildings.

By 1934, all of Chicago's 22 park districts were hindered by the Great Depression. To reduce duplication of services, streamline operations, and gain access to funding through President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal, voters approved the Park Consolidation Act of 1934, establishing the Chicago Park District (CPD). To create jobs, the newly established CPD hired architects, engineers, and landscape architects to produce record plans and drawings that provided a detailed understanding of the park buildings and landscapes as they appeared in the 1930s.

North facade; view from Field Museum rooftop - Chicago Park District Administration Building, 425 East McFetridge Drive, Chicago, Illinois.

The Chicago Park District Administration Building was built in 1939, at the end of the Great Depression, for the new Chicago Park District. The long, four-story limestone building abutted Soldier Field's northern edge. With its robust WPA modern design and European modernist inflections, the headquarters was unusual for Chicago because, during the Great Depression, development on that scale wasn't being built.

The Administration Building was demolished in 2001, and the agency took up residence as renters at 541 N. Fairbanks, Chicago, Illinois.

North facade detail, view to the south - Chicago Park District Administration Building, 425 East McFetridge Drive, Chicago, Illinois.

The south facade includes the Soldier Field parking lot and bleachers; the view to the north is the Chicago Park District Administration Building, 425 East McFetridge Drive, Chicago, Illinois.

South facade; view northwest from east bleachers - Chicago Park District Administration Building, 425 East McFetridge Drive, Chicago, Illinois.

Dining room, basement view to east - Chicago Park District Administration Building, 425 East McFetridge Drive, Chicago, Illinois.

"Secret Garden" exterior dining court view to the northeast - Chicago Park District Administration Building, 425 East McFetridge Drive, Chicago, Illinois.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

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The Chicago Park District: history, background, organization, (PDF)