EDGEWATER — The Chicago Park District is considering renaming a small lakefront park on the Far North Side after neighbors spent years revitalizing it. Edgewater neighbors have petitioned the Park District to rename Park 559, 6151 N. Sheridan Road, to Edgewater Prairie Park. Neighbors now have until Oct. 25 to submit a comment on the proposal, which the Park District’s board will consider before making a final approval. In the Park District’s own review of the request, it found that the proposed name of Edgewater Prairie Park met the necessary criteria because it has substantial public support and it reflects the “ongoing ecological restoration” of the park, according to the district. Melissa Barribeau, a member of the Edgewater Environmental Coalition who’s been spearheading the name change, said naming the park Edgewater Prairie Park would best reflect its “ecological identity.” “My goal was biodiversity and having multiple bloom times at different successions throughout the season, so if you named a prairie plant, it’s probably in our garden,” she said. Park 559 sits on the shore of Lake Michigan in Edgewater on Oct. 5, 2026. Credit: Giacomo Cain/Block Club Chicago Barribeau and others have been tending to Park 559 for several years, protecting wildflowers, planting prairie grass and managing the aggressive weeds that could push out other native plants, she said. “Illinois was the ‘Prairie State,’ and we’ve lost so much of it, so to be able to bring back a little patch of it with the park is really cool,” she said. The undeveloped land that is now Park 559 was acquired by the city in 2002 after spending more than a decade under the ownership of the Cook County Sheriff and various banks and real estate firms, property records show. The property was transferred to the Park District in 2010, when it was developed into a “passive park,” which is a park that emphasizes natural spaces and is without park amenities like field houses or athletic courts, according to the district. Flowers grow in Park 559 in Edgewater on Oct. 5, 2026. Credit: Giacomo Cain/Block Club Chicago Park #559 sits on the shore of Lake Michigan in Edgewater on Oct. 5, 2026. Credit: Giacomo Cain/Block Club Chicago When neighbors first started working on the park, it was really just a lawn, but it’s come such a long way in just a couple of years, she said. “The goal is really to help the community understand that it’s not just a wild patch or an unmanaged patch — it is an actual functioning garden,” Barribeau said. Barribeau said she was inspired to start this restoration work at Park 559 because she lives in one of the adjacent condo buildings that tower over the small park. “There’s hundreds of people staring down at this park, so we made a spiral into it, so it really is something to look at from above as well as ground level,” she said. Barribeau said she’d like to continue doing restoration work on other parks along the lakefront that don’t have park advisory councils, like Park 559. ______________________________________________________________________ ## **Support Local News!** **Subscribe to Block Club Chicago, **an independent, 501(c)(3), journalist-run newsroom. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods. Already subscribe? **Click here to gift a subscription** , or you can **support Block Club with atax-deductible donation.** **Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast:** Enjoy An Architecture Speed Date During Open House Chicago Episode play icon Enjoy An Architecture Speed Date During Open House Chicago Episode play icon Why Are So Many People Reluctant To Get Screened For Cancer? Episode play icon Will ‘Broadview Six’ Prosecutors Be Disciplined? Load More Search Results placeholder Previous Episode Show Episodes List Next Episode

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