Indian Boundary Park Cultural Center

In the newly opened Nature Play Center kids use their imagination and get creative while playing in this incredible outdoor space. The kids don’t have to say anything…you just look at the smiles on their faces and hear their contagious laughter as they explore. It’s magical. It’s peaceful. It’s awesome. Next time you visit the park check it out the Nature Play Center. The new "magical" nature play center is open for special events during the winter.

We’ve also renovated the water spray feature. Dancing bears and spray misters cool off community children and adults!

Tucked away in the West Ridge community sits a community treasure—Indian Boundary Park and Cultural Center. Beyond the quaint Tudor-style field house, visitors can discover a beautifully restored nature area and duck-filled lagoon, a children’s spray pool, and four tennis courts.

As a designated cultural center, Indian Boundary thrives with various painting, piano, dance and voice lessons for both children and adults. Check out the stained glass and weaving class options. Some classes take place on the park’s back porch, so that artists can use the park’s scenery as inspiration. Indian Boundary is a residency site in the Civic Orchestra of Chicago’s program, offering free, family-oriented and interactive concert performances for the community throughout the year.

Parties of 20 or more need to have a permit. Please contact the park staff.

Community residents enjoy the numerous special events produced by the park staff such as; Do-It-Yourself Nutcracker; Valentine's Daddy/Daughter - Mother/Son Disco Party; and Community Halloween Bash to name a few.

Awards: May 2014: Indian Boundary Park Field House received an award for Preservation Excellence by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks.

The Indian Boundary fieldhouse, designed by Clarence Hatzfeld, features Native American-themed ornament inspired by the park’s name, taken from a territorial boundary established between the Pottawattomie Indians and United States Government. Inside is a beautiful auditorium with stage, used for programs, theater productions, concerts, community meetings and private rentals.
History
Indian Boundary Park takes its name from a territorial boundary established by the Treaty of 1816 between the Pottawattomie Indians and the U.S. government. The boundary line, which ran through the land that is now the park, remained in effect only through 1833, when the Pottawattomies were forced entirely from the area in the face of white settlement.

Indian Boundary Park was the second and largest of the four parks created by the Ridge Avenue Park District. The others were Morse (now Matanky), Chippewa, and Pottawattomie. The Ridge Avenue district was the first of 19 neighborhood park commissions established after 1896 to serve areas recently annexed to the city. Chicago's three original park districts had authority only to create parks within the 1869 city limits.

The Ridge Avenue Park District began acquiring land for Indian Boundary Park in 1915. Richard F. Gloede, a designer of North Shore estate landscapes, developed an early plan for the park. In the mid-1920s, the Ridge Avenue Park District opened a small zoo, one of only two zoos in Chicago and initially housing only a lone black bear. The 1929 Tudor-Revival fieldhouse designed by architect Clarence Hatzfeld features Native American-themed ornament inspired by the park's name. Indian Boundary Park is unusual in that its eastern lawn flows seamlessly into the front yards of neighboring apartment buildings. This park feature was so well-received that in the 1960s the Chicago Park District closed off part of adjacent Estes Avenue as well.

In 2005 Indian Boundary Fieldhouse was designated a Historical Landmark by the City of Chicago and is also listed in the National Register of Historical Places.

Parking/Directions
For directions using public transportation visit www.transitchicago.com.