EXPLORING 2 1 3 What happens when an abandoned railroad from yesteryear is transformed into a community hub for the modern era?
COVER STORY
You get The 606: a strip of parks, art, businesses and historical sites bordering a biking/hiking trail on the Northwest Side. Located 16 feet above Bloomingdale Street (1800 N), The 606 runs between Ashland (1600 W) and Ridgeway (3750 W). It links Wicker Park, Bucktown, Humboldt Park and Logan Square.
8
Unlike a stationary park, The 606 is 2.7 miles of action, artwork, all kinds of people – and varied experiences. It’s what you would expect from anything named after the Chicago ZIP code. Most people start at the eastern end, at Walsh Park (1), which has a curved on-ramp, in keeping with the The 606’s universal accessibility. The park includes a spider web and climbing center, as well as two small dog areas with fountains. Jessie was a nanny who was enjoying the park for the first time. “I like that it’s in the most random location ever and that it has so many options for the kids. I love that there are grassy spots, too, if we wanted to come and picnic.”
On the trail, you’ll find walkers, bicyclists, in-line skaters and skateboarders – but no electric scooters. The 18-inch rubbery blue strip at the sides is reserved for single-file walkers and the center median for bicyclists, who tend to politely weave in and out when pairs of walkers stray into the bike lane. One of the first landmarks is St. Mary of the Angels Church and School (2), on the north side of the trail. Seen from the Kennedy Expressway, the church is an offshoot of St. Stanislaus Kostka, Chicago’s first Roman Catholic Church for Polish immigrants, which is also visible from the Kennedy, further south near Division Street. St. Mary’s School, right alongside The 606, was built in 1899, replete with Polish Baroque gabled roof and towers. “In an archdiocese dominated by the Irish, it was to be a bold statement on behalf of the growing Polish community,” according to the website of the Chicago Architecture Foundation. However, the church, built just to the north between 1911 and 1920, lost many of its distinctive Polish features and instead resembles St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Archbishop
4
