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Blue Island, Illinois
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== Parks and recreation == [[File:Memorial Park Field House.JPG|thumb|Memorial Park Field House, dedicated on Memorial Day, 1938]] The [[park district]] was formed in 1909 and in 1912 acquired the property of the late Benjamin Sanders, who was Blue Island's first village president when the village incorporated in 1872 <ref>{{cite book |title= The first hundred years, 1835-1935: historical review of Blue Island, Illinois |last= Volp |first= John Henry|year= 1938| publisher= Blue Island Publishing |pages= 123β124}}</ref> and served as the chairman of the building committee of the [[Cook County Board of Commissioners|Cook County Board]] after the [[Great Chicago Fire]] of 1871. The {{convert|9|acre|m2|adj=on}} property was laid out by the Chicago engineer V.B. Roberts with architectural work by A.R. Grosse <ref>{{cite journal |title= NEWS OF THE WEEK - WESTERN AND CENTRAL STATES - Unclassified |journal=The Construction News|volume=XXXIV | issue = 10|date=September 7, 1912|pages=28}}</ref> and included Sanders' home, which was remodeled into a field house and also provided living quarters for the park's superintendent.<ref>{{cite book |title= The first hundred years, 1835-1935: historical review of Blue Island, Illinois |last= Volp |first= John Henry|year= 1938| publisher= Blue Island Publishing |page= 231 }}</ref> Central Park<ref>{{cite web |author1= Curt Teich & Co. |author2=North Suburban Library System | title = Central Park, Blue Island, Illinois | publisher = Aero Distributing Co., Chicago, IL | year = 1921 | url = http://www.digitalpast.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/lakecoun004&CISOPTR=5030&REC=4 | access-date = February 12, 2009}}</ref> eventually offered tennis courts, playground equipment, and the community's first swimming pool. It was vacated by the park district in 1965 when St. Francis Hospital acquired the property for $325,000.<ref>{{Cite news | last = Gorman | first = Harry G. | title = Council Acts on Stadium Sale β City to Receive $75,000 | newspaper = The Citizen | pages = 1 |date= April 16, 1965 }}</ref> ({{inflation|US|325000|1965|r=-3|fmt=eq}}) to build its east campus there. Memorial Park, the city's next public park, was dedicated on Decoration Day (now [[Memorial Day]]), 1922, in ceremonies that were presided over by Brigadier General [[Abel Davis]] of [[Glencoe, Illinois]].<ref>{{Cite news | last = Rodkin | first = Dennis | title = Abel Bodied | newspaper = Chicago Magazine | pages = 102 |date= July 2008 | url = http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/July-2008/Abel-Bodied/ }}</ref> The section of Memorial Park running adjacent to Burr Oak Avenue with {{convert|330|ft|m}} of frontage on Highland Avenue had originally been laid out as a cemetery in the early 1850s, when this section of Blue Island was a long walk from the populated section of the town. Although the cemetery was added to and improved in subsequent years, it was closed by village ordinance in 1898, and almost all of the remains interred there were moved to Mt. Greenwood Cemetery in Chicago, which had been developed by citizens from Blue Island.<ref>{{cite news | title=Obituary β Norman B. Rexford| newspaper=Chicago Daily Tribune| volume=31| issue = May 6 |year=1903 | pages=7}}</ref> The acquisition of the entire parcel bounded by Burr Oak Avenue, Highland Avenue, Walnut Street and the B & O tracks was completed by the park district in 1935. The park at that point had reached its present size of {{convert|10|acre|m2}}, and eventually, with the help of President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s [[Alphabet agencies]], was provided with landscaping and acquired an outdoor swimming pool, playground equipment, and an [[Art Deco]] stadium that seated 1,000 persons (demolished in December 2009). With the closing of Central Park, Memorial Park has become the flagship of the Blue Island park system.<ref>[http://blueislandparks.org/index.html Blue Island Park District] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080925112734/http://blueislandparks.org/index.html |date=September 25, 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title=Obituary β Norman B. Rexford| newspaper=Chicago Daily Tribune| issue = September 2 |year=1899 | pages=9}}</ref> The {{convert|8.5|acre|m2|adj=on}} site of Centennial Park on the east side of Blue Island was acquired from the East Side Development Association in 1935 for $11,500 ({{inflation|US|11500|1935|r=-3|fmt=eq}}). This park provides a field house, athletic fields and playground equipment. The city operates the Meadows Golf Club, a {{convert|6549|yd|adj=on}}, 18-hole [[golf course]] that was designed by J. Porter Gibson and opened in 1994.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.meadowsgc.com/|title=Meadows Blue Island|publisher=meadowsgc.com}}</ref>
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