The Parks of West Edgewater
If you can't tell, we love our community spaces.
If you can't tell, we love our community spaces.
Located in the Andersonville/West Edgewater neighborhood (directly behind 5700 N. Ashland Ave. between W. Edgewater and W. Hollywood) this passive park features a fenced-in open green space with native trees and shrubs, stationary picnic benches and bench seating, lighting, as well as a water fountain. While there is no structured programming with the Chicago Park District taking place at this location, we invite you to check out other programs at nearby Chase or Emmerson Parks.
Park #599 was established from the footprint of a collection of buildings from the famed Edgewater Medical Center hospital complex, demolished from 2016-2020. The remaining structures from the hospital complex now serve as the north and south towers of Anderson Point Apartments along N. Ashland Ave. Before demolition even began, the neighbors around the space (known as West Edgewater Area Residents or WEAR) joined together and advocated to community and civic leaders to have the real estate developers for Anderson Point donate the parcel of land to the Chicago Parks District. The Chicago Park District took possession of the land in 2022 and began the planning of an open, passive greenspace. This space was designed to focus on open usage over specificity (e.g. playground or dog park). The park officially opened in 2025.
Located in the Andersonville/Edgewater neighborhood (at the intersection of Ashland and Bryn Mawr Aves.) this small park is 0.28 acres and it features a new soft surface playground. While there is no structured programming taking place at this location, we invite you to check out our great programs at nearby Chase or Emmerson Parks.
Edgewater's Mellin Park takes its name from Curtis S. Mellin, Sr. (1895--1957), an alderman for the surrounding 50th Ward between 1929 and 1931. Mellin lived in the area and was a manager for Goldblatt's Department Store at 4700 North Broadway at the time of his death. It was Mellin who, as alderman, proposed the creation of the park on City land. The City purchased the Ashland Ave. property for police department use in 1916. By 1929, the property had become a dumping ground, and Alderman Mellin proposed to convert it to a small park designed especially for the use of mothers with babies and small children. The City's Bureau of Parks and Recreation quickly improved the site, bringing in fresh soil and grading the property; planting trees, shrubs, and grass; and installing benches, a drinking fountain, and a small shelter house and sand box with a trellis-like pergola.
Fifteen hundred local residents attended the park's dedication on July 22, 1930. Mellin "Baby Park," the bureau's first park created specifically for young children, proved a success. Three other city parks based on this model (Ashland, Irving Park, and a section of Winnemac) soon followed. In 1957, the City transferred Mellin Park, along with more than 200 other park properties to the Chicago Park District pursuant to the Chicago Park and City Exchange of Functions Act.
Check out our full calendar of events in the navigation bar at the top of the page.
7 - 9 p.m.
Anderson Point Apartments, 5700 N. Ashland Ave.
enter via W. Hollywood door
All members of community and lovers of the park are invited to this in-person monthly meeting to discuss what is happening within Park #599.
Next meetings are scheduled for
June 17, 2026
July 15, 2026
August 19, 2026
7 - 9 p.m.
Anderson Point Apartments, 5700 N. Ashland Ave.
enter via W. Hollywood door
All members of community and lovers of the park are invited to this in-person monthly meeting to discuss what is happening within Park #599.
Next meetings are scheduled for
July 15, 2026
August 19, 2026
September 16, 2026