Friends of Burr Elementary is petitioning CPS to renovate the school's grass and dirt field. 

The site, prominently located between Ashland and Marshfield near North Ave., has never been designed to maximize the potential for the students and year round outdoor activities.  The grass play field is often dirt or mud and is not usable during a good portion of the school year, especially winter. In addition, when weather does allow field usage, because it is utilized heavily between the hours of 7a-7pm, grass is unable to grow leaving the area mostly dirt. This issue alone reduces the area of outdoor play to a small asphalt area and playground, a quarter of the overall site.   The current teacher parking area separates the play equipment playground from the basketball court and play fields.  The only way to access the basketball courts / sports field from this area and the cafeteria is by having students walk through the custodial area / parking lot which is a safety issue and limits recess play to one or the other space. 

The Burr School Field & Playspace Renovation focuses on master planning the entire site to maximize and encourage outdoor use by its teachers and students.  It will extend our students physical education and active lifestyles to the outdoors year round. The master plan design includes a new synthetic turf sports field, a surrounding track, two half court basketball courts, two pickleball courts, a large open asphalt area for other school games such as four square, hop scotch and other outdoor activities. From the synthetic field to the basketball / pickleball courts there is approximately 24” of elevation change.  The new plan proposes an outdoor raised seating area looking onto the basketball and pickleball courts that can be further used by the school for outdoor education.

When completed, the Burr campus will become an energetic place celebrated by the community.  An empty school park will be full of life not only on school days but also on weekends and throughout the summer.   It will transform a large, sparse open space that is so sought after in the city, especially in the Bucktown neighborhood.  The new development will maximize the full potential of this large site and transform it into a year-round outdoor park that encourages a healthy active lifestyle for our students.

Together, let's turn this vision into a reality. Sign the petition, share it with your neighbors and friends, and let's create a new space where every child in Bucktown can thrive.

Donating money here does not to go Friends of Burr or Burr Elementary; it is to support change.org, which is a non-profit organization. If you would like to donate to Friends of Burr (the non-profit organization that is raising money for the field project), you can go to https://www.friendsofburr.org/ways-to-donate