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The Egg (Great Bird of Peace)
Named in the May 26, 1982 for John Fountain Nichols, a teacher, artist and architectural draftsman and lover of roses who fought for having the park, Nichols Park is a multiple award-winning park in the center of Hyde Park--Hyde Park's Central Park. It snakes between two main thoroughfares, the 53rd St. commercial heart of Hyde Park, and 55th Street, the main connector road between points west and the lakefront (Promontory Point). The original park, with north terminus at 54th Street, dates from c. 1960 under urban renewal. When the city began to clear the land, a resident, Mrs. Friedlander, ran out and stopped crews, so many existing trees were saved for the park. Many Hyde Parkers still remember people, homes, and the Lutheran church that were in the location, one of Hyde Park's earlier real estate developments.
A park-school shared-use gym fieldhouse was built in 2003-4 at the north end of the park. The park also features a landscaped fountain at each end (that at the south holds the water sculpture of Gary Woljniak), formal gardens in the north end, Cosmo Campoli's major work The Great Bird of Peace (recently reinstalled in an arch at the north end of the new gym at 53rd), softball, tennis, playlots, lawns and woods, a fine sledding hill, and the adjoining Hyde Park Neighborhood Club.
Before:
A partner of Hyde Park founder Paul Cornell, Chauncy T. Bowen, was a double pioneer. One of his subdivisions in Central Hyde Park covered much of present Nichols Park. He also lobbied hard for the creation of South Park (now Jackson Park and Washington Park and Midway Plaisance) and was a commissioner on its first board. Bowen Ave. north of 47th is named for him. Kimbark Ave., on the west side of the park, is named for another developer-partner of Cornell. Central Hyde Park, including the Nichols section, was largely built up for the work needed for and at the Columbian Explosion. Much of the style was workman's cottage.The future Nichols became quite densely populated especially by the 2nd World War, even though a submerged stream or at least low spot is said to have meandered through it. By mid-century much housing was subdivided, sometimes into flophouses. But it had nicer housing also and its south edge was a shopping and nightlife hub. A landmark was the Lutheran Church, which burned not long before clearing started. A Filipino community grew up on the future park's west edge. Many of the old trees survive.
A park in progress...
Park 277 (south of 54th St.) was mostly from land in the Urban Renewal (spot) project, although a swath north of the Neighborhood Club was in the Hyde Park A Land Clearance. (In the 1960 plan version it was called PK-1.) It was dedicated to John Nichols May 26, 1982.
The park had planning councils from the beginning. There was also community-wide planning, including the Community Conservation Council, and HPKCC. The park's sculpture and amenities received great community attention, including, for a dozen years the work of the HPKCC Sculpture Committee.
In the late 1980s, the community won, in a referendum fight, and meticulously designed the addition between 53rd and 54th streets. The later-realized Wildflower Meadow (see below) was built largely by community volunteers in conjunction with the Park District starting in 2000, is a designated Chicago Natural Area, and has already won awards and been a host to Audubon and Park District tours. The Meadowlarks volunteers perform regular maintenance and organize time-to-time work days and guided tours.
See more here on community commitment in the Formal Garden and visit the Garden Fair Proposal.
Hyde Park Garden Fair Committee statement of the history of its commitment to the Nichols Park Formal Garden[To complete proposal with view] Our commitment to the Nichols Park Formal Garden is outstanding. In 1986, the north end of Nichols Park was city-owned land. Due to community-wide pressure for additional parkland, as demonstrated by the 86% yes vote on an advisory referendum, an ordinance was introduced by the 4th Ward Alderman in 1989 to transfer this land to the Chicago Park District. A lengthy questionnaire process established that a formal garden maintained by the community was among the first three choices of features Hyde Park area residents wanted in the new park. The Chicago Park District agreed to include a formal garden in the planning only after the community commitment for its care was assured. Consequently, members of the Hyde Park Garden Fair Committee worked closely with the Park District landscaper assigned to the project on the design principles and plant choices for the four-square design surrounding a central fountain. It was planned as, and continues to be, an adaptation of an English style formal garden. The Nichols Park Advisory Council applied for and received a grant of $5,000 from the Chicago Community Trust for purchase of the initial plant materials. The Garden Fair Committee coordinated the subsequent planting by community volunteers. Since then the community, led by the Garden Fair Committee working with Nichols Park Advisory Council, has adhered to the original design concept for the formal garden. Our gardening efforts have resulted in more than 10 awards, including the Chicago Botanic Garden's "Best Flower Garden", the Mayor's Landscape Awards Program (1st place), and the Chicago Park District's certificate of recognition for enhancement of the park. While individual Garden Fair Committee members have donated their expertise and labor to this garden, the Garden Fair Committee as a whole also continues to support the project with grants for materials and labor. Our source of funding is the two annual fairs we have held in Hyde Park for the last 44 years. In addition, the Garden Fair Committee has coordinated and directed more than 10,000 hours of volunteer time. |
Sculpture in the Park was a project of the Hyde Park - Kenwood Community Conference Sculpture Committee, led by leading citizens including Muriel Beadle, wife of UC president George Beadle. The Committee was highly active for a dozen years. Funds for the sculptures were raised from residents of Hyde Park - Kenwood, including school children, and a grant from the Woods Charitable Trust.
Bird of Peace by Cosmo Compoli- See as restored and reinstalled. Watch for dedication 'eggstravaganza' March 20 (tent.), 2005.
The Great Bird of Peace, known as "The Egg" stood on a pedestal in the west end of the park south of 54th Place line. "Guarding the Nest", alt. "Great Bird of Peace" by Hyde Park sculptor Cosmo Compoli, is a satin-finished semi-abstract form poised over a granite basin. It was cast at Mr. Compoli's North Side foundry (and sat in his Hyde Park living room for some time) and rests on a base designed and constructed by the Chicago Park District, intended by Compoli to be one with the bronze statue. For those in the know it is fondly called "the Egg". The statue was dedicated in c 1972 It was stolen and vandalized c. 1981. September 2, 1981, a group of residents sought to raise money for repairs. Repairs started March 9, 1983. Unfortunately, the steel pins between the statue and base were inadequate: For the second time in its career in the park, it was stolen (in the winter of 2000). The pins on which it rested were sawn through, probably over several evenings, then the Egg was rolled to behind a Kimbark Ave. apartment building. A park friend's dog tracked it down. Restored, it was placed in fall, 2004 north of the main door of the Murray gym addition, in the architectural square arch. The Nichols Park's mascot, "Great Bird of Peace" by Cosmo Compoli, has been lovingly restored for $10,000 (after mistreatment during theft over 2 years ago) was installed mid September, 2004 at new fieldhouse Murray addition, framed by the open arch, to general satisfaction including Nichols Park Council. The restoration, by noted Andre Djanowski, involved burnishing 6 sq. inches at a time with an old-time torch and wax procedure. If the scratches had gone much deeper, full restoration would have been impossible. The concrete pad has been laid, lighting installed, and, the original stone pedestal moved to the new site (as requested by Compoli's daughter). Titanium steel rods are used. All hope it will be more secure in its new locale. |
At
55th Street
The Spinning Water Fountain by Gary Wojcik, installed in 1968,
is surrounded by a shallow pool that beckons waders. (The name is
a misnomer--the long copper arms that emit water was never meant to "spin."
Gracing the pool's perimeter are rose bushes. The fountain memorializes
five adults: Josiah Willard Gibbs, Robert E. Van Goor, William Bela Hoffman,
Lazar Perryman, and Harry Schneiderman. Their names appear at the base
of the fountain on ceramic tile plaques made by Albert "Hardy" Schlick
with later restorations by Dorothy Peterson Horton. The Wojcik sculpture was
commissioned from models submitted in a contest sponsored by the HPKCC Park
Sculpture Committee for sculpture students at the Art Institute of Chicago.
Expanded to the north in 1986-92, as a result of community activism through the formation of Friends of the Lot and a referendum showing 86% of residents favored the expansion of Nichols Park, Nichols now also fronts Hyde Park's major commercial street. Every inch was planned by the community and noted designers. They even won a new fountain!
This now-17 acre park boasts a native wild flower meadow, several award winning raised formal beds most of which are planted and maintained by community residents under Hyde Park Garden Fair leadership, an impressive border display of dwarf lilacs, sculptures [including a rotating water sculpture], strolling paths, and comfortable benches with shade trees. Over the years, the park and its formal gardens have won awards from Chicago Botanic Garden, Mayor Daley's Urbs in Horto, Openlands, and Audubon. It also had a compost-teaching center and pioneered in recycling with The Resource Center.
Meadow and Butterfly Sanctuary realized, 2001
In the late 1990's the park won Beautification grants from the University of Chicago/South East Chicago Commission, which made possible the Wildflower Meadow (also a butterfly sanctuary). In 2001 and 2002 it received IllinoisFIRST grants for the Meadow through the offices of Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie and Sen. Barack Obama.
A Meadow Burn by the Chicago Park District occurred on the afternoon of Wednesday, December 11, 2002. Click here to see pictures! The burn was organized by Mary Van Haaften, Natural Areas Manager, Chicago Park District, as one of many each fall in the parks. The reason for these burns is explained in the link above.