Site Details & History

North Park Village is a 155-acre site at the location of the former Chicago Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium (MTS), which operated from 1911 to 1977. After the closure of the MTS, in the face of short-sighted commercial development proposals, a robust community effort was undertaken to preserve the site for community-centered uses.

By the 1970s, medical advances meant that declining numbers of people needed to visit sanitariums for treatment, and the MTS closed at the end of 1974. Shortly before that, in November 1973, developer Harry Chaddick proposed converting the nearly 160 acre MTS site in to a shopping complex and high rise apartments. This plan was strongly opposed by many area residents and local groups, including the North River Commission, an umbrella organization for local community groups that was founded in 1962.

With the support of the North River Commission and other local groups, the North River Coalition to Save the MTS Site was created. Northsiders opposed to commercial development on the MTS site attended meetings with city officials, wrote letters, surveyed local residents, held rallies, and researched alternative possibilities for the site. Their proposed uses for the land emphasized preserving open space and serving senior citizens. In 1975, Mayor Richard J. Daley proposed a plan for the site that incorporated many of the North River Coalition’s proposals, such as open space, a park, senior housing, and a health center. While the following decades continued to see disagreements and debates over the use of the land, many of these projects eventually became part of North Park Village, and the emphasis remained on open space rather than commercial development.

A groundbreaking for Pehr Peterson Park was held in 1977 on the former MTS grounds, and the area was officially given the name North Park Village in February 1979. In the next decade, two senior housing complexes and a health center opened, programs and events were held at the Nature Center, and plans began to renovate the MTS theater building.

“The community prevailed because they persevered.”

The story of North Park Village is a shining example of the power of community voice, vision, and dedication. The persistent voice of a unified community triumphed to initially preserve a unique historical site and eventually transform it into a powerful asset. Today North Park Village has housing for hundreds of senior citizens, a dynamic set of natural environments, a popular and thriving Nature Center, a regional gymnastics center, a large traditional park with athletic fields, large community gardens, a nonprofit recycling center, offices, and more. Many historical MTS buildings remain, preserved for posterity and potentially for further re-use for community benefit.

In 1988, Mayor Eugene Sawyer announced the creation of a conservation easement that would prohibit development on over 100 acres of land within North Park Village. Rights for the land protected by the conservation easement were transferred to Open Lands, a local environmental non-profit. In exchange, it was agreed that the city would develop 12 acres in the southwest corner of North Park Village with the hope of raising revenues to offset costs of maintaining the rest of the village. Initially the conservation easement had a 75-year limit, but it was made permanent in 2020.

The existence of North Park Village is the result of this community vision and the dedication of the people who used their voice to make it a reality for today and into the future. The moral is that while we, as individuals, may feel insignificant we are not, because with unity and persistence we can succeed!

Several original MTS buildings remain, and have been converted to a number of different uses, including Chicago Park District facilities, offices, and housing for senior citizens. North Park Village includes two Chicago Park District sites; the North Park Village Nature Center, and Peterson Park, including the Peterson Gymnastics Center.

Five senior housing developments are on site, comprising a total of 590 units, collectively managed by Elderly Housing Development & Operations Corporation (EHDOC). In the Southwest corner of the site are four buildings with private housing, called the Conservancy at North Park Village.

The campus also features several buildings and open spaces maintained by the City of Chicago Department of Assets, Information, and Services (AIS), offices for the Chicago Park District, Chicago Audubon Society, and a Chapel.