The Skinner Park Advisory Council works on three main gardens: Loomis St. Community Garden, Tranquil Garden, and the Community Roots Garden.
The Skinner Park Advisory Council started a multi-year project in 2015 to restore both the Tranquil Garden and the Loomis St. Community Garden after the roses contracted rosette disease and damage by sports teams. Rosette disease is not harmful to people or other plants but we had to remove all the roses and plant material and will start to replant the garden again with other flowers.
Loomis St. Community Garden
The Loomis St. Community Garden (LSCG) is located in the closed section of Loomis St. between Monroe St. and Adams St. and is NOT part of Skinner Park. The City of Chicago “green” over the Loomis St. for the 1996 Democratic Convention but it quickly fell into disrepair as the City failed to maintain it claiming a lack of funds. SPAC took over maintenance in 2001 to restore the flowerbeds and formed a separate Friends of Loomis St. Gardens group to manage & maintain LSCG, as it’s not part of Skinner Park. LSCG is now both an ornamental and edible community garden.
As part of the restoration project, we have worked with residents who have longed expressed a need for a new community edible garden – “veggie garden”. This new garden was planned for 2018 but the construction of the Whitney Young artificial turf field and track encroached onto LSCG’s space and we had to wait until this year to build the new vegetable garden after WY removed their construction fence. The garden build-out was all done by volunteers who worked on multiple weekends.
Once completed the LSCG – Veggie Garden will have 18 allotment plots in total and at least one ADA accessible plot. The plots are 4×4 feet raised garden beds and filled with organic raised bed mix. Plots are $60 for the 2019 growing season.
In 2020, the veggie garden was expanded to 30 plots. We will also add a large bed to increase our capacity to grow food for donation to food banks.
Due to increased costs for operations and repairs, the plot fee was raised to $80 for the 2021 season. We are a service organization and volunteer hours are part of the commitment of being a community garden member. We do not exclude based on ability to pay the plot fee.
For more information about the garden or to be added to the waiting list for a veggie plot, please email loomisgarden@gmail.com. Please note that we are a service organization and we prioritize volunteers who have given their time towards LSCG or SPAC projects and events.
Tranquil Garden
The Tranquil Garden is a large ornamental community garden located in Skinner Park covering almost 1/2 acre. The Tranquil Garden was completed in 2005 based on a community survey. Many of residents, especially the seniors expressed that there was no place in Skinner Park for them to use. They expressed a desire to have a tranquil area where they can connect to nature. Volunteers from the Skinner Park Advisory Council started building the garden in 2001 by adding flower beds along Monroe St. while raising and advocating for funds to add paths, benches and lights.
We have regular work days on weekends and some weekday evenings. If you would like to help to volunteer with the Tranquil Garden, please email info@skinnerpark.org.