After eight decades without a new park, the Illinois Medical District on Chicago’s Near West Side is finally getting some grass to go with all that glass and steel. Officials this month held a ceremonial groundbreaking for a one-acre triangular park at 2023 West Ogden Avenue, a site that previously housed the Easterseals building.
The new green space is being tailored to the people who use the district every day. Plans call for a playground, two fitness zones, a sensory garden, a walking and running path, and flexible lawn space that can host everything from quiet lunches to community events. At the heart of it all will be an illuminated COVID-19 memorial, roughly 25 feet tall, composed of interlocking dandelion-style sculptures designed for reflection and remembrance.
According to a press release from the Illinois Medical District, elected officials and civic leaders gathered for the ceremonial groundbreaking on a recent Tuesday. The State of Illinois has appropriated $5.9 million to support the IMD Growth and Community Plan, including an Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) grant that will help finance the park. IMD leaders have cast the project as part of a broader push to add community amenities and local jobs to the Near West Side.
What the park will include
The triangular site at West Polk Street, South Damen Avenue, and West Ogden Avenue will be organized into two fitness zones, a playground, a walking and running track, a sensory garden and flexible greenspace for future programming, as reported by Chicago YIMBY. Site Design Group is leading the landscape architecture for the project, and demolition of the old Easterseals building on the parcel has already been completed. Project planners told Chicago YIMBY they hope construction will be finished in the second half of 2026.
A monument for the pandemic
The park will be anchored by a COVID-19 memorial made up of five illuminated stainless-steel sculptures that resemble oversized dandelion puffs. The installation is intended to honor victims and frontline workers, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The Sun-Times reports that the sculptures will stand roughly 25 feet tall and will be set within a reflective memory garden designed for quiet reflection and ceremony.
Funding, timeline, and site history
The IMD Commission says the park is part of its larger Growth and Community Plan, which prioritizes parks, transportation, and infrastructure across the district. The new green space will receive ongoing maintenance support from the newly formed IMD Foundation, according to the commission’s press release. "This new park will be a game-changer for the IMD and Near West Side," IMD Commission CEO and Executive Director Allyson Hansen said in the release.
Officials say the mix of state funding and partnerships is what makes the one-acre transformation possible, even as planners continue community outreach around how the space should be programmed. The former Easterseals site, once a utilitarian corner of the medical district, is now being repositioned as a public front yard for hospital staff, patients and neighbors alike.
Why it matters for the Near West Side
Planners and local leaders describe the park as a key step toward turning the IMD into a true mixed-use neighborhood, with more places to live, work and gather. The district already supports a robust life-science and hospital ecosystem and generates roughly $8 billion in annual economic impact, Chicago YIMBY reports. Small, well-programmed public spaces are seen as a way to support that engine while also giving people a place to rest, exercise or attend community events between shifts and appointments.
Construction crews are already on site, and work is expected to continue through 2026. A formal dedication and programming schedule will be announced once the monument and landscaping are complete. IMD and its partners say they will continue engaging community stakeholders as the park takes shape so the space can serve both the medical campus and the surrounding neighborhoods.
