ANDERSONVILLE — A notorious eyesore is finally being redeveloped into Andersonville’s newest park, the product of a decade-long effort by neighbors to create a new green space in Andersonville.
City and Park District officials broke ground Friday on Park 599, the public green space on a Hollywood Avenue lot just west of Ashland Avenue that was part of the former Edgewater Hospital campus. The site has been vacant since buildings on the site were demolished in 2017.
Adding a park to the former hospital campus has been a passion project of neighbors since at least 2010, when the future of the land was still very much up in the air. But with a portion of the hospital redeveloped into apartments, the final project of the campus’ reformation is underway 22 years after it closed.
“This has been a work in progress for a long, long time,” Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th) said at the groundbreaking. “There’s so much space here to bring the kids, have special events. It’s such an opportunity to bring folks together.”
The park will be open by spring, officials said.
The Edgewater Hospital closed in 2001 after Medicaid fraud and bankruptcy scandals, with much of the campus at 5700 N. Ashland Ave. languishing for years after that.
Its future was uncertain for years as city officials considered redevelopment proposals for the site. A park had been included in those plans for some time, and neighbors organized in 2010 to advocate for a park.
In 2016, MCZ Development announced plans to turn two of the historical hospital buildings into apartments, with the developer pledging to give a portion of the site to the Park District.
That commitment was the work of neighbors. The parcel given to the Park District, between Hollywood and Edgewater avenues just west of Ashland, previously held residences before being acquired by the hospital long ago, neighbor Chris Swan said.
“We said, ‘If we gave up our homes for the hospital, we want something for the community'” in its redevelopment, Swan said. “This is the perfect spot, a perfect park.”
The converted hospital buildings debuted as apartments in 2020. Work on the park lagged because the developer had to make improvements to the site and surrounding infrastructure before turning it over to the Park District, officials previously said.
Final schematics for the park were unveiled to neighbors in spring 2021 after years of community meetings. The property was turned over the Park District early this year, allowing for construction to begin on the $1.4 million project.
“This park belongs to you,” Park District Supt. Rosa Escareño said. “Any opportunity we get to bring green space to our city, that’s truly our priority.”
The park will feature a large lawn encircled by a peanut-shaped walking path. There will be two areas with tables and chairs along with benches on the walking path, according to renderings.
Trees and plantings will surround the lawn and walking path, with an ornamental fence around its perimeter.
The park will have the official name of Park 599, but neighbors are likely to ask the Park District to change it to West Edgewater Green Park. That name was selected by neighbors who have worked on the park project for years, said Scott Fink, president of West Edgewater Area Residents.
“This park here, it did not happen without a lot of hard work,” Fink said.
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