“Construction has been pushed back because of coronavirus, but Logan Square’s Kosciuszko Park is still on track to get a major overhaul, according to Ald. Felix Cardona Jr., whose 31st Ward includes the park.
“Cardona told Block Club the $1.85 million in Tax Increment Finance (TIF) funds former 31st Ward Ald. Milly Santiago secured for the renovation project in 2019 have already been allocated and the pandemic won’t stop the project from moving forward — it’s just delaying it. Construction was supposed to start this spring.
‘It’s gonna happen, but construction is not going to happen in the spring,’ the alderman said.” (Bloom, Clock Club Chicago, 4/16/20)
Preservation Chicago strongly supports the restoration of Kosciuszko Park and the historic Koz Park Fieldhouse. Neighborhood parks play a essential role in fostering health of communities. The City of Chicago and Chicago Park District must continue to invest in these assets to maintain them. The cost to maintain an existing fieldhouse is a fraction of the cost of a new fieldhouse which often cost between $20m and $25M.
It’s interesting to note that the cost of moving the Chicago Town and Tennis Club building onto Emmerson Park would be approximately $1.5M. Preservation Chicago urges the Chicago Park District to commit the necessary funds to save this endangered building from demolition by moving it into the adjacent park and making it the new Emmerson Park Fieldhouse.
Read the full story at Block Club Chicago
“Spanning the Chicago Community Areas of Logan Square and Avondale, the neighborhood of Kosciuszko Park lies on the city’s Northwest Side where the brick homes and two-flats of the Bungalow Belt mesh with the impressive former factories along the Pulaski Avenue Industrial Corridor. Colloquially known by locals as “Koz Park”, or even the “Land of Koz”, the area is a prime example of a local identity born through the coming together of locals thanks to the green spaces set aside by the foresight of Chicago’s Progressive civic leaders.” (Pogorzelski, A History of Kosciuszko Park)
