Last updated: January 10, 2023
Place
Arcade Park
NPS Photo
Quick Facts
Location:
11132 S. St. Lawrence Ave. Chicago, IL 60628
Significance:
Chicago Park District
MANAGED BY:
Amenities
2 listed
Benches/Seating, Water - Drinking/Potable
Designed by Nathan Barrett, Arcade Park was a formal garden for residents to use for leisure in the company town of Pullman.
Arcade Park boasted an interior planting scheme that was ultra-formal -- thousands of annuals, all trimmed to the same height by Pullman company staff and arranged to form geometric patterns. Surrounding this formal interior was a "naturalistic instinct" enclosure - dense, but not tall so as not to obstruct the view plantings of native wildflowers, shrubs and a few small trees.
After years of neglect, Arcade Park was built to its current configuration in the 1970s, and is loosely based on the original layout. However the original planting scheme was not replicated, because the upkeep of a large formal garden was too costly.
The center section was hollowed out so that it could be flooded in the winter for ice skating; unfortunately, the ice skating idea never panned out. The flower beds, echoing the original configuration, are now maintained by the all-volunteer Historic Pullman Garden Club and managed by the Chicago Park District.
Arcade Park originally sat adjacent to the Arcade Building, which was a large, four-story shopping and office center. The Arcade also held a 1,000-seat theater, a subscription-only library (books donated by George Pullman), and the Pullman Bank. The Arcade Building was demolished in 1926 after falling into disrepair.
Arcade Park boasted an interior planting scheme that was ultra-formal -- thousands of annuals, all trimmed to the same height by Pullman company staff and arranged to form geometric patterns. Surrounding this formal interior was a "naturalistic instinct" enclosure - dense, but not tall so as not to obstruct the view plantings of native wildflowers, shrubs and a few small trees.
After years of neglect, Arcade Park was built to its current configuration in the 1970s, and is loosely based on the original layout. However the original planting scheme was not replicated, because the upkeep of a large formal garden was too costly.
The center section was hollowed out so that it could be flooded in the winter for ice skating; unfortunately, the ice skating idea never panned out. The flower beds, echoing the original configuration, are now maintained by the all-volunteer Historic Pullman Garden Club and managed by the Chicago Park District.
Arcade Park originally sat adjacent to the Arcade Building, which was a large, four-story shopping and office center. The Arcade also held a 1,000-seat theater, a subscription-only library (books donated by George Pullman), and the Pullman Bank. The Arcade Building was demolished in 1926 after falling into disrepair.