Chicago Park District – Welles Park

Fun park but the gate doesn’t go all the way around. And kids could walk out.
Also the benches are extremely uncomfortable.

I think this picturesque park is a near perfect neighborhood park. It sits on a prime location in Lincoln Square where restaurants and pubs are just steps away. Where do I begin? It’s a green oasis in the middle of the hustle and bustle. It’s a great place to people watch or read a book as it borders on Sulzer Regional Library. The centerpiece of the park is the beautiful Victorian gazebo. If you have kids there are two separate playground areas. The playground on the northwest corner seems much newer than the one on the opposite side of the park. Now that spring is here the park is teeming with families and little leaguers. There’s also a crêpe stand making a variety of fresh French crepes. I did mention that this park is near perfect but one thing that was kind of disturbing was a light post just feet away from one of the playgrounds with exposed electrical wires. This could be an accident waiting to happen. Other than that, this park is an idyllic place to visit and enjoy.

Welles Park is a nice park, with lots of activities. But, if you live by it, there are too many activities. I live across the street from the park, and I cannot find a space to park in the summertime. Additionally, the kiddie park is overused, and children and their parents litter the surrounding area. Already this year, some people dumped charcoal next to my building when they were done with their barbecue in the park! The park district needs to add more garbage bins around the park, as well as on the corners leading away from the park. The parking situation, garbage, and noise that the park attracts is not really fair to the residents living around the park. With all of the money that the park brings in, it is only fair that they spend extra money on garbage pickup. I’ve also had issues with dogs that run loose there. It really became a problem for me after I had just had surgery, and as I attempted to start walking again, somebody’s nice dog jumped on me and almost knocked me to the ground. The dog owner didn’t even apologize. I’ve also had people steal my Easter basket by my door, and people letting their child pick my flowers. I would like to see cop activity in the park to handle this type of problem. There is always a police car stationed in front of the park building, but the cop just sits in the car rather than get out and see what is happening. Around July 4^th, there are tons of young people setting off fireworks and nothing is done about that either. Yes, it’s a decent park because of the things you can do there, but please be considerate to the residents and the surrounding area.

Nice large green space in the city. Nice community involvement. Happening lively place. Plays in the park, movies in the park… Nice family park. Decent parking, great public transport access. Near dining.
Indoor pool is nice at the rec. This location youth classes fill very very quickly!
There are 2 different play areas, 1 new, 1 old. Neither are great for the older child. (6 and 8) We still enjoy this area for the wide open spaces but to really play on the equipment this isn’t my kids first choice.

Awesome Large Park. Well Maintained. The Kids Playground (Fully Enclosed) is one of the better ones I’ve been to, and there is a «Sprinkler» there that my Kids LOVE. I have a Park that is closer to me, but I often Drive to this one. There are also a bunch of places to eat just across the street, so it can be convenient for a Full Day Outing.

This is part of my spree of reviewing parks, because summer is playground season, and Welles is very fun. The playground on Sunnyside Ave is shaded in the afternoon, which gives it a distinct advantage over others in the neighborhood. It also gets quite crowded, but that’s never a problem for us. The water feature is a little intimidating to toddlers but I can’t wait until she’s big enough to have fun splashing in it. (The playground on Montrose is all but abandoned most of the time, which is nice if you & your little one need more space.)
As for the rest of the park… back in the day, I used to swim laps in the indoor pool (before I joined the cheapo gym, and then later the nicer gym.) Hurray for public indoor pools — we might do swimming lessons there for the kid in the fall.
The summer concert series at the gazebo is lovely.

Fun parks for my 5yo. Very family-​friendly, nice crowd, if a touch «upscale» at times. All kinds of stuff going on. Also, bring a change of clothes for the kids on a hot day, they’ve got some sprinklers.

My cell phone was stolen from the men’s locker room — locker 4. I used a padlock, but apparently with that locker you can just yank the door open even if your lock is in it.

I agree with Jack, it’s a great place to work out, and it’s free until 1PM for those over 65.
If I wanted to work out later in the day, as a senior over 65 I could pay a small fee
for that.
I use 4 of the weight machines for a workout, and there is hardly ever more than one
other person using any of them. They are high quality machines in good condition.
There are also free weights, Swiss stability balls and a big floor mat, plus the aerobic machines.
Sometimes most of the treadmills are in use, maybe one of the rowing machines,
but I have a stationary bike at home and only use the weight machines.
If you’re not a senior, the cost is quite low for residents of Chicago.

Free gym. All to myself. It certainly doesn’t get better than this. That’s how it was on a typical Friday morning. After four or so years of no gym, no weights or treadmillls, I found out that gentlemen (and ladies) of a «certain age» can use Chicago Park District gym facilities for free from 8AM-​1PM. How great is that? There are treadmills, «epilepticals» as I like to call them. (At least that’s what I look like using them), rowing machines, weight machines and free ones, as well as a big free motion station. And the nice thing about the gym vs. the pool here is you don’t need to use the less-​than-​pleasant or well-​appointed locker rooms to change or shower. The staff here are friendly and helpful, and the place is never crowded, which is a lot to say for an urban gym. I cannot speak for the non-​free hours as to crowds; but I do know that the fees are pretty low, if you don’t need a lot of social currency with your gym membership.

Wow, this is a PRETTY park with playground, fields, and even a water park (I noticed it has indoor pool, too). When I read the review about it being small, I totally disagree. I think this is a great size of a park with a nice gazebo. I love that they have «Tuesdays at the Gazebo» with free music concert. It’s like Ravinia but a mini-​version and with extra ammenity. A kid can swing while rocking to beautiful beats; a jogger can exercise without having iPod on; or a family can do picnic without needing to bring a radio.

Wonderful park! So much to do and spacious. You can play baseball, swim in the pool, jog, play tennis, jam on your guitar after a lesson at the nearby Old Town school of Music. I myself came here for an ukulele festival today on a sunny afternoon. Glorious.
It’s a great place to meet friends or go on an afternoon date. Grab some tacos at Taqueria El Asadero across the street on the south, go for a stroll and talk, then finish off with ice cream from Coldstone. Boom, afternoon well spent.

What a nice little place to spend an afternoon.
There are families and dogs running around, but still lots of space to sit and read a book or just people watch. Great location, great park.

OK, I just got a 3 month workout pass at the Welles Park Gym for $ 60. They got a few machines for strength training, but the majority is cardio. I personally like the quiet, simple, training equipment they provide. For this price you should not expect too much. Anywho, that said, sometimes you cannot expect too much for the attendees also. Yesterday an elderly gentleman walked in without his shoes and started weight training while showing el bunion, like it was the most normal thing in the entire world. Then there are plenty of people who go around every machine in the gym (doing one set on each) to eventually not wipe down any of them. That said, I still think its worth working out here. Though I’m considering not paying anymore after my pass expires, since nobody checks anyways.

Welles Park is one of my favorites in the city. It’s fairly small, only one block, but it has a great location. Right across from the library AND Julius Meinl, I can’t count the number of times I’ve gotten a book and then a cup of coffee, then just sit in the park consuming both. There are almost always kids sports going on on the east side of the park, but there’s also usually space to relax on the west side.
I recently bought a pass for the fitness center, and of the 4 or so facilities I’ve used, the Welles one is my favorite. It’s hardly huge or state of the art, but I go mainly for the cardio and this facility has the most cardio machines (of the places I’ve been). You’re not going to get the same experience you would at a big gym, but for the price it’s worth it to me.

We had a stealth wedding here.
I learned the hard way not to use the word «wedding» when trying to book event space. Our tiny, super short ceremony with no amplified sound, no decorations, no anything would have cost us $ 500 simply because I put «wedding» on it. If I’d called it anything else, it would have been a $ 50 permit.
So, since you don’t ACTUALLY need permits for anything under 50 people if you don’t have amplified sound, we decided to risk it. We only invited 75 folks. They wouldn’t all show up. Flash mob wedding. It would be AWESOME.
And it was awesome. It was a beautiful place for a ceremony, the acoustics in the gazebo were great, pictures came out wonderful, everyone stood in a circle so they could see. It was the ideal place for a low-​key, super-​short (we’re talking 15 minutes) wedding like ours.

i luv welles pk for all of its outdoor aspect… for that i give it a 5
inside im a bit more particular… tried out their fitness center back when they had the jan intro deal and was disappointed… i like the area and the equip is decent but geezus it was f-​in hot in there… im talkin need a banana bag dehydrating hot
all fans were on… doors were open… and w only 3 of us workin out in there the floor to ceiling windows were steamed up in bout 5 mins… add some ventillation and this place would be top notch as far as cpd facilities goes :)

My sister introduced me to the field house at Welles Park. I love the pool; I have to say that they have a nice locker room with roomier lockers that fit your big gym bag and towel. The showers are nice as well; they are not that annoying push and timer control type. They are actual knobs and you can control how hot or cold you like it.
The pool is nice as well and they are working on their enclosure for the pool. They have construction going on for their windows. There is a large plastic tarp around the windows.
The water was not heavily chlorinated and there temperature was good. I have met a few lifeguards as they come here for the late night adult swim hour. One lifeguard told me this is where he gets his swimming work out. I am a fair swimmer and I have yet to encounter any rude swimmers. I have gone during the summer and have not encountered as much as a swim rats or pool monkeys.
They have a nice work out room and the grounds out side are well kept. There right across from a public library.
The most striking feature of the park is the gazebo. Speaking to the field house manager; he told me they have out door concerts in the summer time and even weddings here. He informed me I could find multiple activities on the Chicago Park District web site.
I must admit that I have been here only by bike and bus and speaking to my sister she has told me its shear hell finding parking in the summer. I have been here a few times now and I just wish the park district would make another field house like this one in other Chicago locations maybe Rogers Park further North.
Over all a wonderful park and the people who work here are helpful and nice. The people who use the park seem really nice as well.

Welles Park has some history to it. Abe Saperstein, the founder of the Harlem Globe Trotters, used to coach basketball here. I love running around Welles Park and for the last two seasons I have been using the fitness club facilities. Though the fitness club amenities aren’t very expansive, it’s cheap. In the fall I paid $ 40 for three months. In the winter I’m paying $ 60, but I’m assuming that’s due to demand since nobody wants to work out outside in the cold. Still that’s very inexpensive compared to most private health clubs, and it’s not overwhelming and it’s clean. The field house also has an indoor pool which I have yet to take advantage of (it costs extra to get a pool pass).
In the summer the park is always rife with activity, from little league baseball, to adult softball games, tennis, and a trail surrounds the park that can be used for running.
The location is great, on the south end of Lincoln Square across from the Library. I once watched a concert here for the Folk and Roots Festival. Another time I sat under a tree and read a book. Not the biggest park but for practical purposes it has pretty much everything you need.

When making long hikes from Albany Park to Lincoln Park, the lakefront, or the Loop by foot, Welles Park stands as an oasis.
Plentiful water fountains, baseball diamonds, rafters, benches, tennis courts, swimming pool, gazebo, plenty of grass, spikes for horseshoes, there aren’t a lot of things this park is missing.
Ideal for BBQ’g, playing outdoor sports, or just sitting in the park and eating a sandwich, Welles Park is one of Chicago’s smaller yet cozy public parks. Located near Old Town School of Folk Music as well as the burgeoning Lincoln Square bar and restaurant district, Welles is perfect for families and for outright hanging out.
Beware during large fests such as Mayfest and German-​American Fest, this surrounding parking spots vanish into a black hole and you will spend a considerable amount of time on the hunt for open parking spots as well as be swarmed by a sea of drunken yuppery.

I am writing this review with sincere hope that it will expedite the delivery of Spring. Seriously, as much as I love frozen tundra, crunchy ice everywhere, brown sludge and my nose hairs freezing every time I venture outside… I am ready for some warmer weather!
And, when this warmer weather appears… I shall be spending much of it at Welles Park, with one of the finest coed recreational softball franchises Chicago has ever seen — Bats & Boxes.
I think I’ve played on almost every field at Welles Park between softball and kickball games. I’ve lounged in the grass, eaten fabulous cheese burgers, trekked across in each direction to a variety of bars… I’ve made new friends (and an enemy or two, sore losers!), walked the track with my dog, listened to drum ensembles in the gazebo, collided with a group of little league football players, and happily soaked up copious amounts of sunshine. Oh, and I got a concussion one day too, but forget that! (pun intended)
So, on this frigid day in February… I look fondly forward to spring/​summer/​fall softball, the return of B&B, sitting on the patio at Bowman’s, and: sigh: playing outside.
This is what parks should be. Welles is the benchmark.