By King Jemison
Medill Reports
Broadway Armory Park closed to the public in August, when the city turned it into a migrant shelter. Edgewater residents are taking action to reopen this longtime community institution.
Hear why local residents formed the Broadway Armory Park Advisory Council – and why they believe the park is essential to their neighborhood.
TRANSCRIPT:
TROY MCMILLAN: We really are not just sitting by and letting this happen.
JEMISON: That’s Troy McMillan, vice president of the Broadway Armory Park Advisory Council. Edgewater residents formed the council after the city converted the park to a migrant shelter back in August. Council members say this is a real loss for their neighborhood.
GINGER WILLIAMS: It’s like the hub of the Edgewater community. It just really, really saddens me that after working in Chicago all these years and paying taxes, I can’t use my own park.
JEMISON: Williams blames poor planning by Chicago city leaders for the closure.
WILLIAMS: I’m not blaming the migrants for that. They should have gotten better also. They should be in better housing than in a gym.
JEMISON: The council found that two-thirds of park programs have been eliminated since the closure. Alternative programming is only serving about 27% of the over 1,000 people that regularly used the park before it closed.
MCMILLAN: That’s part of the tragedy. Some folks, this is their happy place. This is where they come for friendship and fellowship.
JEMISON: I’m outside Margate Fieldhouse in Uptown, where many of Broadway Armory Park’s programs have moved. Inside, there are dozens of teens playing volleyball. However, their numbers have fallen drastically since being forced to move from Broadway Armory.
CALVIN NGUYEN: So it makes it a lot harder to make new friends and to interact with people.
JEMISON: That’s why council leaders are calling for the park to be fully reopened by the start of spring programming in April. They’re encouraging all their members to write to the city.
In Edgewater, I’m King Jemison for Medill Reports.
King Jemison is in the sports media specialization at Medill. You can follow him on X @king_jemison.
