Kelvyn Park and Fieldhouse

Kelvyn was among the original parks created by the Northwest Park District, which first formed in 1911. At that time, the Northwest Park District aimed to provide one neighborhood-scale park for every 10 square miles within its growing jurisdiction. The park district began purchasing land for Mozart, Kelvyn and Kosciuszko Parks in early 1914 and hired American Park Builders, Inc. to produce the landscape design for the 10-acre Kelvyn Park. The company had recently designed the much-admired Portage Park. Kelvyn Park became part of the Chicago Park District in 1934, when the city’s 22 independent park commissions were consolidated into a single agency. In 1928, the two-story brick field house was added, designed by architect Walter W. Ahlschlager, whose credits include the Davis Theater in Lincoln Square and the Hotel Intercontinental on the Mag Mile (formerly the Medinah Athletic Club). The field house is nearly identical to those at Riis and Simons Parks. It has a gymnasium, a fitness center and a large upstairs auditorium.