Bartelme (Mary) Park

Mary Bartelme Park — steel arches, a cloud of fog, and a judge worth knowing about

Two and a bit acres in the West Loop, and one of the more inventive small parks built in Chicago this century. Five stainless steel arches stand across a field of brilliant white paving; on warm days they release a drifting cloud of mist that children run through until they are soaked. Underfoot, the pavers are doing chemistry — a photocatalytic surface that breaks down air pollutants in sunlight. The mound at the back gives a skyline view and a sledding run in winter. And the name belongs to a woman who became the first female judge in Illinois and spent a career keeping girls out of adult courts.

Highlights

• The five gateway arches — tall twisting stainless steel structures you walk through, which emit a fine mist on warm days. They are the park’s signature and the reason it shows up in architecture guides.
• The photocatalytic paving — a field of white permeable pavers with a titanium dioxide surface that breaks down atmospheric pollutants in sunlight, nicknamed smog-eating concrete. It is also permeable, so it manages stormwater rather than shedding it.
• The mound — a raised grass hill that gives a clear view of the downtown skyline in summer and becomes the neighborhood’s sledding hill the moment snow falls.
• The dog areas — separate off-leash runs for large and small dogs, which make this one of the most heavily used parks in the West Loop on any given evening.
• Salvaged material — architectural elements from the building that previously stood on the site were reused in the park’s construction rather than sent to landfill.
• Native and drought-tolerant planting — beds chosen to cut irrigation demand, part of the sustainability program that won the park a Best Open Space award from Friends of Downtown.

What you’ll find

The park is small, dense and clearly zoned, which is what makes it work in a neighborhood that added thousands of residents in a decade. Every square meter has a job, and nothing is left as decorative lawn.

• The white paved plaza with the arches and their misting system.
• A children’s playground with equipment for a range of ages.
• The grass mound, used for skyline views, sitting and winter sledding.
• Two fenced off-leash dog areas, separated by dog size.
• Open lawn for sitting, picnics and informal games.
• Native and drought-tolerant planting beds around the perimeter.

Things to do — and who it’s for

• Families with young children — the mist arches on a hot day are better than any water playground, and free.
• Dog owners — two dedicated off-leash areas make this the social center of the West Loop’s dog community.
• Office and remote workers — a lunch spot with grass and shade in a district built almost entirely of converted warehouses and new towers.
• Design and sustainability readers — permeable photocatalytic paving, salvaged materials and drought-tolerant planting in one compact demonstration.
• Winter sledders — the mound is the only real slope for a considerable distance and it is claimed within hours of a snowfall.
• Anyone eating in the neighborhood — the West Loop’s restaurant district is at the doorstep, and the park is where people wait, meet and decompress before and after.

Getting there & practical

The park sits in the West Loop on Chicago’s Near West Side, in the middle of the city’s densest restaurant district. The Blue Line stops at UIC-Halsted and Racine, and the Green and Pink lines stop at Morgan, all within a comfortable walk. CTA bus routes 8 and 20 serve the surrounding blocks and connect to the Loop. Street parking exists but is competitive in the evenings. Entry is free — there is no admission for the plaza, the playground, the mound or the dog areas — and the park keeps standard Chicago Park District hours from early morning until late evening. The misting arches run seasonally in warm weather rather than year-round. Twenty to thirty minutes covers the park; longer if you are here with children or a dog, which most people are.

When to visit

Spring reopens the lawn and the planting beds and brings the West Loop back outdoors after a hard winter, though the mist system usually waits for reliable warmth. Summer is what the park was designed for: the arches running, children soaked and delighted, the white paving throwing light, and evening crowds spilling over from the restaurant district. Autumn is the calmest and most comfortable season, with skyline views from the mound sharpening as the air clears and the dog areas at their busiest in the cooler evenings. Winter transforms the place — the mound becomes a sledding hill within hours of any real snowfall, the steel arches look extraordinary under frost, and the park is at its quietest and most photogenic on a cold clear morning.

Good to know

The park is named for Mary Margaret Bartelme (1866–1954), who became the first woman to serve as a judge in Illinois. She was appointed public guardian of Cook County in 1897, worked from 1913 as an assistant to the judge of the juvenile court, and in 1923 was elected to the Circuit Court of Cook County, presiding over the girls’ branch of the juvenile court. Her lasting contribution was practical: she founded a series of residential homes, known as the Mary Clubs, so that girls who came before the court had somewhere to live other than an institution or the street. She retired from the bench in 1933. The park that carries her name was built on a former industrial and institutional site in a neighborhood that has flipped from meatpacking and warehouses to restaurants and residential towers within a generation. It was designed by Site Design Group in collaboration with the Chicago Park District and the West Loop Community Organization and opened in 2010. Architectural elements salvaged from the building previously on the site were incorporated into the new construction, and the paving was specified as permeable photocatalytic units — the same product family marketed as smog-eating concrete — so the plaza handles stormwater and works on air quality at the same time. The park won a Best Open Space award from Friends of Downtown.

Visitor tips

• Bring a change of clothes for children in summer. The mist looks gentle and they will still leave soaked.
• Climb the mound for the skyline. It is a small rise, but it is the only elevation in the neighborhood and the view justifies the thirty seconds.
• Come the morning after the first real snow if you want to see the park at its best — the sledding hill fills fast and the steel arches under frost are worth the cold.

Questions & answers

Who was Mary Bartelme? The first woman to serve as a judge in Illinois. She was public guardian of Cook County from 1897, was elected to the Circuit Court of Cook County in 1923, presided over the girls’ branch of the juvenile court, and founded residential homes known as the Mary Clubs.

What are the steel arches for? They are walk-through gateway structures that release a fine mist in warm weather. In practice they function as the park’s water feature and its main attraction for children.

Do the arches mist all year? No. The misting runs seasonally in warm weather and is off through the cold months.

Is the park free? Yes, entirely — the plaza, playground, mound and dog areas all cost nothing.

Can I bring a dog? Yes. There are two fenced off-leash areas, separated by dog size, and they are among the busiest in the West Loop.

What is special about the paving? It is permeable, so it takes stormwater into the ground instead of into the sewers, and its surface is photocatalytic — it breaks down certain air pollutants under sunlight.

Can you sled on the hill? Yes. The mound is the neighborhood sledding hill and it fills within hours of a snowfall.

How long does a visit take? Twenty to thirty minutes to see it. Considerably longer if you have children in the mist or a dog in the run.