The Chicago Park District has announced a three-part program to increase student and community use of the parks, but one of the district’s critics says there is nothing new about it.
“This is basic, this is absolutely basic,” said Erma Tranter, executive director of the Friends of the Parks.
The district and the Organization of the NorthEast held a joint news conference last week to kick off the Parks Are For Kids program in the Edgewater and Uptown communities.
The program includes a three-hour afterschool section slated to begin April 5, as well as new and expanded activities designed by community organizations.
Although district officials hailed the program as “innovative” and a “model,” Tranter said there are similar programs in nine of the parks. Similar programs have existed for years in the suburbs, she said.
Even so, “we would be happy if they did this anywhere,” Tranter said. “It’s a first step.”
The afterschool program will be held from 3 to 6 p.m. each day at seven locations throughout Edgewater and Uptown and will include activities for children ages 6 to 17. There will be program fees, which will range from $1 to $5, at four of the sites.
The second part of the program involves making Park District facilities available to the 36 community groups that have designed youth programs.
For example, five community groups will bring 70 youths to the Margate field house for two hours twice a week.
The third part of the program involves using Senn High School and Pierce Elementary School as sites for additional park programs in the afternoon and evening.
The broad-based community partnership is what distinguishes the program from others in the city, said Park District President Richard Devine.
