Austin Town Hall Park Historic District

Five civic buildings gather around a four-acre park in Chicago's Austin neighborhood, about seven miles west of downtown. Built between 1900 and 1930, they include Francis Scott Key School by Dwight Perkins, the Austin Methodist Church by Sidney Badgley, the Austin YMCA by Berlin & Swern, the Austin Town Hall by Michaelsen & Rognstad, and the Henry W. Austin library branch by Alfred Alschuler. Each uses a different revival style, from collegiate Gothic to Colonial and Classical, yet all combine brick with white limestone trim, giving the group a unified look. The district was listed as an example of a neighborhood civic center, an urban form promoted by early twentieth-century reformers and planners who hoped shared public institutions would bind residents, including newcomers, into a common civic culture. The park, first dedicated to public use in 1865 as Holden Park, anchors the group. The cupola of the Town Hall and the 100-foot church spire dominate the skyline, and the buildings retain a high degree of their original character.