47 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
AN ERA OF EXTENSION IN LINCOLN PARK, CHICAGO 
Lincoln Park, probably the most 
used of any of the parks in the three 
systems of Chicago, has for years 
been much overworked in providing 
as a separate system for the recrea- 
tion of the great North Side, with a 
population of 440,262, and a park 
area of 416 acres, giving one acre of 
park to 1,058 people. The South Side, 
with its 2,429 acres for 954,642 peo- 
ple, has one acre for every 393 peo- 
ple, and the West Park System has 
1,038 people to an acre of parks, the 
population being 1,068,749 and the 
park area 1,029 acres. The Lincoln 
Park Commissioners have conse- 
quently set about enlarging the sys- 
tem by reclaiming from the lake an 
addition to Lincoln Park, and es- 
tablishing in the congested districts 
three small play parks of the type 
that has been so wonderfully success- 
ful on the South Side. The recent 
annual report of the board tells of 
the active prosecution of this work 
of extension. 
A bond issue of $500,000 was voted 
in 1907 and construction begun on 
t-wo small park sites. Seward Park, 
the first of these, was opened July 4, 
1908, and has since been used to its 
utmost capacity. It covers 1.78 acres 
and has a field house 300 feet by 56 
feet, built of oriental brick with a 
green tile roof. The center portion 
of the building contains an open 
loggia leading through to the 
grounds. Above is an assei^ibly hall, 
with a seating capacity of three hun- 
dred, a reading room branch of the 
Public Library which is supplied with 
magazines and periodicals by the 
Commissioners. In each wing of the 
building is a gymnasium, 77 feet by 
43 feet, adjacent to which are baths, 
lockers and toilet rooms. The field 
house is also equipped with a lunch 
room, store rooms and offices. The 
grounds are fenced and laid out to 
embrace a running track, wading pool 
and athletic field, which is flooded in 
winter for skating purposes. The 
field has been supplied with frames 
and other gymnastic apparatus. 
There is no charge connected with 
any part of the playground aside 
from the lunch room. This is man- 
aged by the Commissioners, care be- 
ing taken to obtain only strictly 
wholesome food, which is sold at 
only enough above cost to meet the 
expenses of operation. During the 
summer months informal gymnastic 
work, with games and plays, was car- 
ried on under two trained instructors. 
On October 15th these activities were 
transferred to the indoor gymnasium, 
where a thoroughly organized and 
systematic schedule of class work 
and games was formed, classes in- 
cluding members of both sexes over 
ten years of age. To promote a bet- 
ter and more uplifting use of the as- 
sembly hall a series of Tuesday night 
lectures and entertainments has been 
arranged under the auspices of the 
park commissioners. A number of 
prominent lecturers and entertainers 
have given their services gratis, and 
thus far the attendance has been 
large. The hall is equipped with 
movable stage, piano and electric lan- 
tern with an attachment by which 
moving pictures of an educational 
character are shown. 
Stanton Park, 4.9 acres, is now un- 
der development, and our illustration 
shows the handsome field house de- 
signed for it. The Lake Shore Play- 
ground was also opened in 1908, and 
has been much used. Last fall a 
bond issue of $250,000 was voted for 
small park purposes in that district, 
and the selection of sites is now un- 
der way. 
The work of increasing the area of 
Lincoln Park by filling in the sub- 
merged lands northward along the 
lake shore, and creating an addition 
to the present park of 197.54 acres 
made possible by the million dollar 
bond issue, voted in 1903 by the 
FIELD HOUSE FOR STANTON PARK, LINCOLN PARK SYSTEM, CHICAGO. 
