Grace Church of Logan Square has a plan to fully renovate its building at 3325 W Wrightwood Ave in order to provide open and accessible space to the community. This plan was developed in conversation with Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, Logan Square Preservation, Unity Park Advisory Council, Chicago Park District, and St. Luke’s Lutheran Church.

Both Grace Church and Unity Park provide open space for the community of Logan Square. Grace Church’s building has stood at the corner of Wrightwood and Kimball since 1910 and has a strong history of supporting the church’s surrounding neighborhood. Grace Church regularly collaborates with the community and is a member of the Logan Square Ecumenical Alliance (LSEA), a group of congregations in the neighborhood focused on social justice initiatives. Through the LSEA collaborative, Grace has helped make real, measurable, systemic change to benefit our community. The church collaborated with Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA) to finally bring 100 new units of affordable housing to the heart of Logan Square in 2020. With the Coalition to Save Our Mental Health Centers, they worked with others to successfully bring a publicly-funded mental health center to our neighborhood. Because of Grace Church’s commitments to the community and prominent location in the Logan Square neighborhood, the church has been able to provide support and share their space with a number of community groups over the years. 

Unity Park is a small, but extremely popular park less than a block away from Grace Church. Built in the 1960s, Unity Park was constructed after neighbors began organizing for recreational play spaces for youth. The improvements to the park and free programming are a result of continued and consistent community advocacy from neighbors and park advisory members who work hard to make Unity Park a great space for our community. However, while many young Logan Square families enjoy a plethora of activities at the park, the park is unable to provide a Day Camp program due to the lack of a field house. The Grace-Unity Community Center Plan would solve this issue by utilizing the Grace Church gymnasium building located just half a block south of the park at 3325 W. Wrightwood Ave.

The Grace Church gymnasium building sits empty much of the week and is not accessible to the public. Simple renovations to the building would allow it to serve as a year-round indoor recreational space where community groups and the Chicago Park District would be able to offer programming such as summer day camp, basketball, and other indoor activities serving as an extension for the outside activities currently offered at Unity Park. 

After several productive meetings with community stakeholders, City and Park District officials, we feel strongly that such a project would greatly benefit the Logan Square community by adding much-needed open space. That is why neighbors are organizing to let the Chicago Park District and the Chicago Department of Planning and Development know we support the efforts to transform Grace Church into a Community Center for Unity Park so we can proceed with accessing funding for this project - including applying for currently available Logan Square Open Space Impact Fee (OSIF) funds.

The Grace-Unity Community Center Plan was developed through a series of community conversations and meetings between the Unity Park Advisory Council (UPAC), 35th Ward Office, Grace Church, Logan Square Preservation (LSP), Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA), Chicago Park District officials, and St. Luke’s Lutheran Church. Logan Square Preservation has already put $250,000 towards exterior renovations of the Grace Church gymnasium. With funding for interior renovations from OSIF we believe the building can begin to be programmed by the Park District.

As the neighborhood prepares for growth with new affordable housing developments within walking distance of Unity Park, more open community and recreational space is needed. This project will help the Chicago Park District meet its mission by enhancing the quality of life in our Chicago neighborhood and providing a safe, inviting, and beautifully maintained facility.

We need your help to transform Grace Church to create an indoor space for year round activities like sports camps, worship, art performances, and much more. Please support our campaign by signing to demand the Chicago Park District, City and neighborhood leaders work together to turn Grace Church into a Community Center!

You can read more about this project here, and contact Grace Church via email if you have ideas or questions.