About The Park
Jonquil Park is a 3.25-acre community treasure located in the historic Lincoln Park neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois. It is the greener part of the intersection of Wrightwood, Lincoln, and Sheffield Avenues, with the official address being 1001 West Wrightwood Avenue.
This park serves as a central gathering place for local residents, offering a large expanse of open turf ideal for recreational activities, including informal community gatherings and organized baseball games.
A prominent feature is the children’s playground, which incorporates a soft-surface, ADA-accessible design. This area is comprehensively equipped with a variety of engaging elements, such as swings, slides, interactive activity panels, and climbing structures.
A dedicated splash pad provides a summer fun amenity for cooling off during the hottest days of the year. Adjacent to the playground, an open plaza area further enhances the park's utility, featuring a structured garden that blooms jonquils in the spring, a designated game table area, and additional green space.
Not to mention, it's one of the best places for outdoor fests on the northside, come see what Jonquil has going on next!
1001 W Wrightwood Ave, Chicago IL 60614
A little bit of history
Newspaper clipping courtesy of Wrightwood neighbor, Natalie Fredrickson
In 1969, the Chicago Park District began leasing this property, a former storage area for salt and snow removal equipment, from the Chicago Transit Authority. In 1981, the park district doubled the park’s size to more than two acres, purchasing the CTA land and acquiring additional property. Park facilities now include baseball fields, volleyball courts, and tennis courts. The park district officially designated this site Jonquil Park in the mid-1970s, when a number of properties were named for plants and trees.
Jonquil Park features a bronze sculpture created in 1988 by internationally-known artist Richard Hunt. During his successful career in 20th century art sculpting, he acquired a deactivated electrical substation in 1971 on Lill Avenue across from the park, and repurposed it into a metal welding sculpture studio. The station came equipped with a bridge crane, which was convenient for moving large sculpture pieces, and a spacious 40 foot ceiling.
Inspiration for Hunt’s Eagle Columns came from a Vachel Lindsay poem about Illinois governor John Peter Altgeld (1847-1902), an early proponent of neighborhood playgrounds, who once lived nearby.
