Auburn Gresham Vacant Lot on Halsted Set to Become Park 55 Years After City Bought It

A stretch of city-owned land on Halsted Street in Auburn Gresham that has sat empty since Richard Nixon's first term is on track to become an actual park.

The Chicago Park District acquired the lot at 8116 S. Halsted St. in 1971 and designated it Park No. 382, according to the district's own records. For 55 years, the property has mostly stayed as it was: open, unimproved ground bordered by a public alley, where cars and trucks have parked without much interference.

District spokesperson Michele Lemons said the agency is "actively working on plans to clean and green" the site. The scope of work includes ripping out existing pavement, grading the land, planting sod, adding shade trees around the perimeter and repairing the fencing that surrounds the lot.

The Park District's website describes the site as a spot for "families to spend a portion of their day relaxing, enjoying nature and the outdoors." That description does not match what the land has actually looked like. In 2024, Tracy Swartz, a Chicago-based New York Post editor who set out to visit every public park in the city, described Park No. 382 on social media as a "ghost park that's doubling as a parking lot/trash pit."

Photos of the site going back to at least 2019 show the same bare, undeveloped stretch of ground, with no play equipment, benches or landscaping to distinguish it from a lot awaiting construction.

The Park District now says it wants neighborhood residents to help decide what actually goes into the space once cleanup work is finished. Lemons said the agency will invite input from area residents, Ald. David Moore (17th) and the Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation on what features they'd like to see. A community roundtable on the project was already held August 20, giving neighbors a first chance to weigh in before design work moves further along.

The delay traces back decades. Park No. 382 received its official park designation the same year the city bought the land, but nothing was ever built. Auburn Gresham has seen other public investment take shape more recently, including the Healthy Hub development along 79th Street that opened in 2022 with a health clinic, bank branch and restaurants organized by the Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation. The Halsted Street park lot, by contrast, has remained essentially frozen since the Nixon administration.

For now, the project is at the stage of clearing pavement and grading dirt rather than installing playground equipment or seating, which the district says will come after residents and the alderman give feedback on what they want. No date has been set for when construction will begin or when the roundtable's input will translate into a formal design. District officials are currently reviewing cost proposals for the cleanup and grading work, and that review is the next step before any work on the lot begins.