Indian Boundary Park
Tucked away in the West Ridge community sits a 13.22 acres community treasure—Indian Boundary Park and Cultural Center. Beyond the quaint Tudor-style field house, visitors can discover a beautifully restored nature area and duck-filled lagoon, a children’s spray pool, and four tennis courts.
In the Nature Play Center, kids use their imagination and get creative while playing in this incredible outdoor space. The kids don’t have to say anything…you just look at the smiles on their faces and hear their contagious laughter as they explore. It’s magical. It’s peaceful. It’s awesome.
As a designated cultural center, Indian Boundary offers a wide range of visual and performing arts programming for both children and adults - including textile arts, piano, dance and voice lessons. The cultural center also hosts free, family-oriented, and interactive concert performances for the community throughout the year.
When summer arrives you'll find kids enjoying the water spray feature; running around the dancing bears and spray misters cool off.
The Indian Boundary fieldhouse, designed by Clarence Hatzfeld, features Native American-themed ornament inspired by the park’s name, taken from a territorial boundary established between the Pottawattomie Indians and the United States Government. Inside is a beautiful auditorium with stage, used for programs, theater productions, concerts, community meetings and private rentals.
Awards: May 2014: Indian Boundary Park Field House received an award for Preservation Excellence by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks.
Parties of 20 or more need to have a permit. Please contact the park staff.
Indian Boundary Park takes its name from a territorial boundary established by the Treaty of 1816 between the Pottawattomie Indians and the U.S. government. The boundary line, which ran through the land that is now the park, remained in effect only through 1833, when the Pottawattomies were forced entirely from the area in the face of white settlement.
Indian Boundary Park was the second and largest of the four parks created by the Ridge Avenue Park District. The others were Morse (now Matanky), Chippewa, and Pottawattomie. The Ridge Avenue district was the first of 19 neighborhood park commissions established after 1896 to serve areas recently annexed to the City. Chicago's three original park districts had authority only to create parks within the 1869 city limits.
The Ridge Avenue Park District began acquiring land for Indian Boundary Park in 1915. Richard F. Gloede, a designer of North Shore estate landscapes, developed an early plan for the park. In the mid-1920s, the Ridge Avenue Park District opened a small zoo, one of only two zoos in Chicago and initially housing only a lone black bear. Land acquisition for the park was completed in 1926. The 1929 Tudor-Revival fieldhouse designed by architect Clarence Hatzfeld features Native American-themed ornament inspired by the park's name. Indian Boundary Park is unusual in that its eastern lawn flows seamlessly into the front yards of neighboring apartment buildings. This park feature was so well-received that in the 1960s the ¿ì²¥ÊÓÆµ closed off part of adjacent Estes Avenue as well.
In 2005, Indian Boundary Fieldhouse was designated a Historical Landmark by the City of Chicago and is also listed in the National Register of Historical Places.
For directions using public transportation visit .
Contact: Megan Manley, President
Contact Email: indianboundaryparkac@gmail.com
Contact Phone: (773) 764-0338
Meetings: 2nd Tuesday of the month at 7:00p.m. (quarterly)
Capital Projects
Facilities at Indian Boundary Park
Pagination
Programs at Indian Boundary Park
Each Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday from 3pm to 5pm
Except the following dates:
Friday, Jul 4, 2025
Each Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday from 9am to 3pm
Except the following dates:
Friday, Jul 4, 2025
Each Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday from 8:30am to 3:30pm
Except the following dates:
Friday, Jul 4, 2025
Each Friday from 10:30am to 1:30pm
Except the following dates:
Friday, Jul 4, 2025
Each Wednesday from 10:30am to 1:30pm