STEELWORKERS MEMORIAL PARK

One of our son's friends was having an exhibit at the Steel Workers Memorial Park.  

Since it was a beautiful day we decided to visit the park.

There were a lot of interesting sights to see

like the ore wall.

Part of the wall has been used for productions

Climbing wall

 These steel artifacts were just added to the park a month before we visited.

We enjoyed the nice walking paths around the park!

A google search revealed the following history of Steelworkers Memorial Park. 

Steelworkers Memorial Park, East 87th Street and Lake Michigan  

(Photo by Joann Podkul Murphy)

In an experiment to landscape the 40 foot deep slag base of the former steel mill site, a layer of Illinois river silt was used successfully to nurture the trees in this space, which commemorates the United States Steel Corporation’s South Works steelworkers. 

After that environmental revitalization was begun, the owners, working with the City of Chicago, conveyed ownership of a 300 foot wide strip of the land, from the lake inward, to be dedicated to use by the Chicago Park District, providing lakefront access to the community.

Once the Chicago Park District became responsible for that space, interesting things began to happen, and continue to happen, as this page attempts to illustrate.

2014 - 2015: Steelworkers Memorial Statue is Conceived, Commissioned, Created, and Dedicated

One of the first significant actions was the commissioning of the creation of a statue to commemorate the generations of steelworkers whose labors fueled the mighty engine of steel manufacture in South Chicago.   Ultimately — and appropriately -- that task fell to community artist — and former USS South Works steel worker — Roman Villarreal.  But, as is true of most community projects, local, regional, national, there must be a beginning. 

2015 - 2016: Steelworkers Memorial Park Comes Alive

In 2015, the Chicago Shakespeare Theater Company and Chicago Park District, collaborating in their “Shakespeare in the Parks” program, brought their first South Chicago presentation, “Shakespeare’s Greatest Hits,” to this park.

That production was soon followed by the Erica Mott Production, "Trials and Trails,” which was a dance theatre tribute to the steelworkers whose labors made the site a major engine of national growth for nearly a century and a half.
2016 saw the continued use of Steelworkers Park for community enjoyment of the arts, as the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre/Chicago Park District collaboration continued with the production of “Twelfth Night."