parkways foundation projects

Ongoing Projects

Passport to Nature
In 2011, children and their families throughout the city will be given a Passport to Nature to guide them to the Chicago Park District's nature areas and to encourage positive experiences in nature. Children are spending less time outdoors than ever before and are increasingly disconnected from nature. Packed schedules, prevalence of electronics that keep kids "wired" indoors, loss of green space and parental fear are among the reasons why. Mounting research demonstrates how improtant direct contact with the outdoors is to healthy childhood developemtn, with emphasis on fitness, creativity, cognitive functioning and a sense of wonder.

Harvest Garden
Youth across the country are gardening. In an urban setting like Chicago, where green space is a premium, our city's parks are providing an opportunity for kids to take fruits and vegetables from seed to plate. Through three seasons of the year, kids nurture, cultivate and harvest their produce. They learn not only gardening techniques, but also how to prepare fruits and vegetables in ways that they are more likely to heat them, not only in the garden, but once they get home as well. This year, a cooking van will be garden-side every month at each of the 15 gardens. After preparing and cooking their produce, kids will participate in a community meal in the garden. And in September, youth from across the city will compete for ribbons at the "county fair."

Toddlers, Tunes and Turtles
These family-friendly events are designed to connect young children with nature in their local parks. Events feature live animals (including turtles of course), music and nature play. Animal experts teach participants the difference between native species and exotics and interact with the public in a fun, educational manner. Musicians perform nature themed music with the families and iInstruments are provided so that children can join in. There is also the opportunity to fish with magnetic fishing sets and catch insects. Children also interact with natural materials in an unstructed way. Whether they are buidling a house a fairy could live in, making a princess crown out of flowers and acorns or just piling up dirt, reserach shows that children learn by playing with the different textures and structures that nature offers.

Send a Kid to Camp Scholarship Fund
This fund is essential, especially now, for families who need additional resources to give their children positive camp experiences in the parks - both in the summer and after school. Families least able to afford summer camp are often the ones who need it the most. $100 helps to underwrite one scholarship for a child to attend camp in Chicago's parks. Click here to donate to this fund. 

Movies in the Park
Parkways was the presenting sponsor of Movies in the Park for the 2009 and 2010 seasons. This program provides community residents with free, outdoor film entertainment. Each summer, more than 170 current and classic movies are shown at parks throughout the city. 

Buckingham Fountain Restoration Campaign
Parkways Foundation is partnering with the Chicago Park District and the City of Chicago in seeking private investment for The Buckingham Fountain Restoration Project. The 80 year-old fountain is one of Chicago’s greatest treasures and is one of the most recognizable landmarks in the world. In 2009, the Fountain Plaza was renovated. This included replacing the gravel with sparkling granite, adding benches so visitors can enjoy the view and restoring the surrounding landscape to its original design. In addition,  the plaza is now ADA accessible.
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www.parkways.org/restorethefountain

Wellness Programs
The Wellness Programs were created as part of a city-wide effort to combat the high obesity rates. The Abbott Fund generously donated $100,000 to Parkways Foundation to establish the first Wellness Center Program in the Rogers Park Neighborhood at the Broadway Armory which opened in June 2008. Due to its success, The Abbott Fund has donated an additional $100,000 for a second Abbott Fund Wellness Program located in the Humboldt Park neighborhood which opened in the spring of 2009.

The goal of the Chicago Park District, with support from Parkways Foundation, was to establish six Wellness Center Programs throughout the city. In 2009, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illimois helped to realize this goal by awarding a grant of $400,000 to Parkways to create for additional Wellness Programs at Douglas, Palmer, Pottpwattamie and Sherwood Parks.

The Wellness Centers are housed in Chicago Park District fieldhouses and provide the community with multifaceted, year-round nutrition and fitness programming. This includes fitness classes, fitness arcading and interactive fitness equipment such as the popular games Dance, Dance Revolution and Game Bikes, as well as fitness inflatable equipment, rock climbing walls and a walking club. Additionally, families will learn about healthy nutrition through interactive cooking demonstrations, healthy snacks, and lesson plans. Registered dietitians will offer instruction on healthy cooking, staying fit as a family, and promoting healthy lifestyles.

Kraft Great Kids Program
Each year, Kraft Foods gives a major grant to support and staff cultural, nature, and arts programming in parks throughout the city. There are twelve Kraft Great Kids Centers that provide enhanced after-school programming and during the summer, The Kraft Great Kidsmobiles bring organized activities to neighborhoods in need of engaging, visible and positive programming.
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T.R.A.C.E
Teens Re-Imaging Art, Community & Environment  is a youth development program for park-based teens that explores and employs a variety of arts practices in order to provide opportunities for community building and leadership. Its purpose is to cultivate and encourage civic engagement and creative activism by raising youth awareness of local and environmental issues, and by utilizing the creative arts as a vehicle for individual growth, group dialogue and social change.

Inferno Mobile Recording Studio - annual commitment
In 2005, seed money was awarded to develop the Inferno Studio, a mobile recording studio program that provides park youth with the opportunity to write and record original poetry, songs, raps and more. It has since grown into a much larger program that allows park patrons of all ages and abilities to discover their creativiey through the use of digital technology. Parkways is committed to funding this program on an annual basis, especially to inspire additional gifts to expand the outreach of the program.
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Community Gardens Grant Program
Parkways established a grant program for registered Chicago Park District Community Gardens, both ornamental and edible. Community groups may apply for funding for materials to enhance their gardens. The purpose of this program is to build community ownership of the Chicago Parks, strengthen community leadership/sense of neighborhood, and facilitate a higher degree of beautification and maintenance of the Chicago parks through community participation. The 2010-2011 grant application will be available in the coming weeks.
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Alvin Ailey Dance Camp - annual commitment
AileyCamp is a collaborative effort between Parkways, CPD, Urban Gateways and the Chicago Public Schools, bringing 90 young adults together for a six-week program that literally transforms their lives. Well beyond professional dance instruction from Alvin Ailey instructors, the kids are exposed to poetry and field trips, while learning disciplinary skills and journaling on a daily basis. Parkways is committed to funding AileyCamp on an annual basis.
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Adaptive Camp and Leagues for Children with Disabilities
Parkways raises funds for the Chicago Park District’s Adaptive Camps for children with disabilities focusing on mobility issues. Activities such as basketball, swimming, golfing, bicycling, and fishing are offered. The purpose of the camp is to expose the participants to activities and facilities that are available to them, including the Columbus Park Boundless Playground® funded by Parkways Foundation.
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Huboldt Park Audio Tour
The Chicago Park District and Parkways Foundation present a free self-guided audio tour of Humboldt Park. You can either download the tour to an MP3 player, burn a CD, or listen to it online. The tour includes a map with stopping points that correspond with the audio tracks. If you visit each place and listen to the tracks, your walking tour will take approximately 1 hour.

Explore Humboldt Park, look at its lovely features, and learn about the architects, artists and landscape designers who created it,  most notably Jens Jensen, a Danish immigrant who created a distinctly Midwestern expression called the Prairie style of landscape architecture. Julia Bachrach, Chicago Park District historian will lead you on the tour. She is joined by Bruce Johnson, grandson of Jens Jensen, who shares inspiring quotes and writings by his illustrious ancestor. Click here to access the tour.   

The success of this program has spurred Parkways to find additonal funding to create audio tours for other historic parks.

Tree Fund
Parkways raises funds for trees in needed areas on an annual basis. In 2009 and 2010, Parkways matched a $25,000 grant from the Chicago Community Trust Foundation for the Chicago Park District to purchase additional trees for a sprig and fall planting. With the funds received, 10% more shade trees were planted as part of the reforestation project taking place in Lincoln Park and 75 trees were purchased to grow Chicago's tree canopy.

Community Action Agents
Parkways partners with community organizations who want to raise funds for specific projects in their parks. In the past, we simply held their funds so that they had a 501c3 partner. Now we act as advisors to help form fundraising campaigns, help connect them to the right people at the Park District and make them feel that they have a solid foundation for their efforts through partnering with Parkways. Engaging the community is a priority in all that we do, no matter the size of the project.

Funding Completed -- Capital Projects

The Renovation of Moore Park
$500,000 (2010)
Parkways' current capital campaign is supporting the renovation of Moore Park, located in the Austin neighborhood on Chicago's west side. Austin struggles with poverty as the median household income is nearly 13% lower than the city-wide median, yet the park is a place of community and boasts a thriving park council. Moore Park's revitalization will enrich the Austin community, a neighborhood that will greatly benefit from the presence of a refurbished park through offering affordable liesure and recreational programming targeted to community members.

This is the first time Parkways is taking part in a full park renovation. Plans inlcude a playground, walking path, water feature and new athletic fields and basketball courts. 

The Tiffany & Co. Foundation Celebration Garden
$1,250,000 (2009)
The Tiffany & Co. Foundation awarded a $1,250,000 grant to Parkways for the creation of “The Tiffany & Co. Foundation Celebration Garden” in Grant Park. The south rose garden was transformed into a four season formal garden and event space adjacent to Buckingham Fountain which opened in September 2009. Rental fees for the garden will go directly to Parkways Foundation which in turn be utilized for the ongoing annual maintenance of the new garden space. For more information or to book The Tiffany & Co. Foundation Celebration Garden please contact Alison Krzys at 312.742.4808 or akrzys@parkways.org.

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The Tiffany & Co. Foundation website

 McKinley Park Soccer Field
$1,000,000 (2008)
Parkways raised $1,000,000 for a new state-of-the-art artificial turf soccer field at McKinley Park. The funds were used to replace a heavily used grass soccer field with one that can withstand wear and tear. The Park District is working to address the rapidly growing needs for new turf fields as the requests for field time outnumber the fields that currently exist. The field is fully equipped with lights, risers, and the best turf the industry offers and is expected to be the ultimate sports destination in the neighborhood, and beyond.
McKinley Park website

Washington Park
$700,000 (2008)
Parkways Board of Directors and Membership reached their fundraising goal of $700,000 for a signature playground in Washington Park which meets the standards of the Boundless Playground for children of all abilities. The playground opened October 18, 2008 to the applause of the neighborhood, Chicago Park District, as well as Mayor Daley.
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Washington Park website

Fountain of Time Restoration
Parkways staff worked with a special committee to raise funds for the restoration of the reflecting pool in front of the historic Fountain of Time sculpture in Washington Park. The reflecting pool opened in September of 2007.

Agora by Magdelena Abakanowicz sculpture in Grant Park
Parkways worked with a special committee to complete the fundraising for the installation of the sculptures. Agora opened to the public in November, 2006.

Columbus Park
$675,000 (2005)
Parkways Board of Directors and Membership joined forces to fund the first Boundless Playground® in Chicago at Columbus Park. This universally accessible playground allows children of all ability the chance to play together. Elements are designed to be both mentally as well as physically challenging for a broad range of abilities. Given the historic significance of Columbus Park, the design incorporates elements of nature and historic throughout.
Columbus Park website

Humboldt Park Boathouse
$250,000 (2003)
The Council Ring successfully completed a pledge to fund the infrastructure to bring cultural and educational programming to the Boathouse. The Chicago Park District restored the Boathouse to its original grandeur and the Council Ring raised the funds to breath life back into this amazing structure.
Humboldt Park Boathouse website

Independence Park
$250,000 (2002)
Located on the city’s Northwest side, Independence Park runs a successful Therapeutic Recreation program, however the facilities were in decline due to continuous use. With the help of Parkways donors, the lower level of the Field House was gutted to allow for much needed improvements to the Therapeutic Recreation facility and weight room and the Men’s and Women’s locker rooms received new lockers and benches.
Independence Park website

Elizabeth Morse Genius Children’s Garden at Garfield Park Conservatory
$1.4 million (2000)
The first and to-date, most successful project launched by Parkways, the Children’s Garden has made a significant impact on the Garfield Park Conservatory. By providing a stimulating play area, this facility provides a unique, hands-on opportunity for children to learn about plants and the environment.
Elizabeth Morse Genius Children's Garden website