Canal Origins Park

Chicago, Illinois

The Chicago Parks District along with the Canal Corridor Association commissioned Michael Singer to design a new park for Chicago. The 2 acre site is a designated Chicago Landmark that was recently a neglected post industrial patch of land. Canal Origins Park commemorates the creation of the Illinois & Michigan Canal as it connected the Great Lakes with the Mississippi River drainage basin. The Canal Origins Park design preserves an important historic resource while regenerating the land and the canal edge. The design integrates interpretive programs and meanings of this place with participatory sculptural and landscape elements. The park also provides a place of discovery and learning for Chicago’s youth, creates much needed green space for underserved communities and offers new public access to the Chicago River. The Canal Corridor Association worked for twenty years to see Canal Origins Park preserved and restored and in 2004 construction was finally completed. The waters off Canal Origins Park are now considered to be the second best fish habitat in the city.

Artist / Designer: Michael Singer
Singer Studio Team: Blackbird Architects, John Guminak, and
Richard Rabinowitz at American History Workshop