For those acquainted with the legend of the Knights of the Round Table, Avalon has special meaning. The Isle of Avalon was where King Arthur was buried. While Chicago`s Avalon Park may not bear much resemblance to that mystical English isle, that`s simply because you`re not looking at it from a 1892 perspective.
Back in the late 1800s, when the community was named, Avalon Park was a deep swamp. Houses were perched on stilts. A major attraction was Mud Lake, located around 84th Street and Woodlawn Avenue. And there was an island. Stony Island, which created a ridge leading into and out of the area.
But then the 79th Street sewer was completed and the swamp was drained. Avalon Park rested on dry land. Mud Lake became a park. Stony Island became a major thoroughfare.
Avalon Park is located along South Chicago Avenue and the Chicago Skyway, which forms the northeastern border. The southern edge is 87th Street and the western boundary is the Illinois Central Gulf railroad tracks. It`s a small, relatively private, triangular-shaped area that`s home to about 11,500 people. Apartments scarce
The community is almost exclusively single-family homes-most of them brick bungalows but some two-story frame buildings, ranches and a few Cape Cods. Apartments are few and far between. The earlier properties date to the 1920s. Newer ones were built in the 1960s. But a boom in housing took place after World War II, when area steel mills and other large industrial plants brought a wealth of jobs to communities throughout the Southeast Side.
One development was called Marynook, about 700 homes built west of Stony Island, between 83rd and 87th Streets. Featuring larger floor plans and no alleys, Marynook previewed a new style of living.
”It has a suburban feel to it,” says Vernon Cotton, a Realtor with Century 21 Enterprise Realty. ”The homes are newer and larger than most in the community and many are tri-level.” According to Cotton, even after nearly 50 years, Marynook remains a popular area for home-buyers and commands slightly higher prices than in the rest of the community. Home prices throughout the area range from $75,000 to $140,000.
Stability and growth
Avalon Park has remained stable over the years. Even with the decline in area factories and a decline in population of nearly 25 percent in the last 20 years, more than 70 percent of Avalon Park homes are owner-occupied and, according to local Realtors, many residents have lived there for generations. However, along 83rd Street, there is construction underway that adds an interesting dimension to the community. On the site of a warehouse is a collection of 35 brick townhouses set back from the street. Selling for up to $175,000, Washington Terrace introduces yet a another home style and proves that Avalon Park can attract a new type of home buyer.
”We have a 10-acre site with the capacity to build 120 homes,” says Gloria Carney Shealey, developer of Washington Terrace. ”Right now the first phase is complete and about half of those units are sold and occupied.”
”That development is raising the value of property in the area,” says Dempsey J. Travis, of Travis Realty. ”Before, $200,000 home prices were unheard of.”
Less than a mile away from Washington Terrace, in neighboring Chatham, another group of new higher-prices homes, called Chatham Park Place, is being developed by Travis. The two developments demonstrate that a trend in newer, more modern style homes is underway in the area.
Easy access
Part of the appeal of Avalon Park is access to transportation and shopping. Stony Island connects residents to the Skyway and to Lake Shore Drive. Along this wide boulevard is an array of local shops and just west of the community, on 87th, is one of the busiest shopping areas on the South Side.
A 30-acre park, with the same name as the community, is also an attractive area amenity, featuring a fieldhouse, basketball court, tennis courts, swimming pool, softball diamonds and picnic areas. Located on 83rd, near Washington Terrace, the park makes the townhouses feel even more like a lavish suburban complex.
It may not be quite as lavish as the Isle of Avalon, but where on the isle could you get a home-style breakfast in a neighborhood diner?
