North Park Village Collection

Chicago’s Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium (MTS) opened in 1915 on the northwest side of the city on land donated by Pehr Peterson, a Swedish immigrant who had previously used the land as a tree orchard. At the time, fresh air and open space were considered important factors for treating tuberculosis, so the land was well-suited to its new use. 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.

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.