Bessemer Park Fieldhouse
Bessemer Park Fieldhouse
Bessemer Park Lobby
Bessemer Park Lobby
A great Chicago Plays! Ribbon Cutting celebration
A great Chicago Plays! Ribbon Cutting celebration
A special new Chicago Plays! playground for all to enjoy!
A special new Chicago Plays! playground for all to enjoy!
A new Chicago Plays! playground for the community
A new Chicago Plays! playground for the community
Community members and staff enjoy the ribbon cutting ceremony of the new Chicago Plays! playground
Community members and staff enjoy the ribbon cutting ceremony of the new Chicago Plays! playground
Bessemer Park  Baseball Field
Bessemer Park Baseball Field
Bessemer Park Soccer Field
Bessemer Park Soccer Field
Location:

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60617

Supervisor: Alonzo Dunlap
Phone Numbers: Main (312) 747-6023

 

Hours

Park Hours
Weekday Time slot Comment
Sunday: 6:00 am-11:00 pm
Monday: 6:00 am-11:00 pm
Tuesday: 6:00 am-11:00 pm
Wednesday: 6:00 am-11:00 pm
Thursday: 6:00 am-11:00 pm
Friday: 6:00 am-11:00 pm
Saturday: 6:00 am-11:00 pm
Fieldhouse Hours
Weekday Time slot Comment
Sunday Closed
Monday 9:00 am-8:30 pm
Tuesday 9:00 am-8:30 pm
Wednesday 9:00 am-8:30 pm
Thursday 9:00 am-8:30 pm
Friday 9:00 am-8:30 pm
Saturday 9:00 am-5:00 pm

Description

Located in the South Chicago Community Area, Bessemer Park totals 20.27 acres and features two gymnasiums, a boxing gym, and multi-purpose rooms. Green features of our facility include two gardens. Outside, the parks offers an artificial soccer field, handball court, a swimming pool, picnic groves, softball & baseball fields, a track, and tennis courts. Many of these spaces are available for rental including our gymnasiums, fields, and multi-purpose rooms.

Park-goers can participate in Park Kids, seasonal sports, playschool activities, Therapeutic Recreation, and Teen Club. Afterschool programs are offered throughout the school year, and during the summer youth attend the Park District’s popular six-week day camp.Specialty camps are offered in the summer as well, and include Special Recreation Camp.

In addition to programs, Bessemer Park hosts fun special events throughout the year for the entire family including holiday events.

History

The South Park Commission acquired land in 1904 for the creation of Bessemer Park.  This park was part of what proved to be a nationally influential neighborhood park system. At the time, vast numbers of immigrants were arriving in Chicago with hopes of achieving the "American dream." Instead, many found intolerable living and working conditions. The City’s existing parks were too far away to offer any relief. Superintendent J. Frank Foster conceived a new type of park for these areas. The innovative parks not only provided beautifully landscaped "breathing spaces," but also public bathing, the City’s first branch libraries, classes and vocational training, inexpensive hot meals, health care, and a variety of recreational programs. Nationally renowned landscape architects the Olmsted Brothers and architects Daniel H. Burnham and Co. designed the whole system of new parks. In addition to Bessemer Park, the neighborhood park system included Ogden, Sherman, Palmer, and Hamilton Parks, and Mark White, Russell, Davis, Armour, Cornell Squares.  Bessemer Park development included a fieldhouse that housed an assembly hall, lockers and showers for both men and women which were located on opposite sides of the building, and six clubrooms. The outdoor amenities were walks, lawns, an outdoor swimming pool, a wading pool, tennis courts, and athletic fields. The official opening of the park to the public took place with a dedication on September, 10, 1905. The 22 park districts were consolidated in 1934 to create the Chicago Park District and Bessemer Park became part of the Park District’s portfolio.  Streets were vacated in 1957 to complete the 20.27-acre park.

In 1907, Bessemer Park was named for Sir Henry Bessemer (1813-1898), an Englishman who perfected the process of making steel, which revolutionized the steel industry worldwide. The name is especially appropriate because the park is located a mile away from South Chicago's once-thriving steel mills.

Advisory Council

Contact: Danielle Richards,   President
Meeting Details:

2nd Wednesday of the month at 5pm

Out of an abundance of caution Park Advisory Council Meetings will be held virtually for the near future. Please contact the Bessemer PAC for details.

Parking/Directions

For directions using public transportation visit www.transitchicago.com.

Map & Facilities

Bessemer Picnic Area

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

Bessemer Pickleball Court

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago , IL 60617
United States

:

Bessemer Nature Garden

8930 S Muskegon Ave
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

:

Invasive Species | Artwork

8930 S Muskegon Ave
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

:

Bessemer Unofficial Soccer Field

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

Bessemer Turf Soccer/Football

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

Bessemer Tennis Court

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

Bessemer Spray Pool

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

Bessemer Running Track

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

Bessemer Playground

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

Bessemer Baseball Field

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

Bessemer Paths and Trails

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

Bessemer Pool

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

:
(312)747-6023

Bessemer Handball/Raquetball

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

Bessemer Gymnasium

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

Bessemer Fieldhouse

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

Bessemer Clubrooms

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

Bessemer Boxing Gym

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

Bessemer Basketball

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

default image
Bessemer Picnic Area

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

Show on Map
default image
Bessemer Pickleball Court

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago , IL 60617
United States

Show on Map
Bessemer Nature Garden
Bessemer Nature Garden

8930 S Muskegon Ave
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

Show on Map
Large figure shaped like a fish woven out of branches and sitting in the top of a dead tree.
Invasive Species | Artwork

8930 S Muskegon Ave
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

Show on Map
default image
Bessemer Unofficial Soccer Field

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

Show on Map
default image
Bessemer Turf Soccer/Football

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

Show on Map
default image
Bessemer Tennis Court

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

Show on Map
default image
Bessemer Spray Pool

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

Show on Map
default image
Bessemer Running Track

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

Show on Map
Bessemer Playground
Bessemer Playground

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

Show on Map
default image
Bessemer Baseball Field

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

Show on Map
default image
Bessemer Paths and Trails

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

Show on Map
Bessemer Park Pool
Bessemer Pool

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

  • :
    (312)747-6023
Show on Map
default image
Bessemer Handball/Raquetball

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

Show on Map
default image
Bessemer Gymnasium

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

Show on Map
default image
Bessemer Fieldhouse

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

Show on Map
default image
Bessemer Clubrooms

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

Show on Map
default image
Bessemer Boxing Gym

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

Show on Map
default image
Bessemer Basketball

8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60617
United States

Show on Map