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Park Advisory Councils An advisory council is a voluntary group of individuals who meet on a regular basis to support the effective functioning of their local park. Councils promote ways for the community to better utilize the Chicago Park District's programs and facilities; provide communication to the Chicago Park District on matters relating to their parks; increase community awareness of Chicago Park District projects. The 49th Ward has the following park advisory councils: Touhy Park Advisory Council Willye B. White Park Advisory Council Loyola Park Advisory Council Pottawattomie Park Advisory Council Pottawattomie Dog Park Committee Rogers (Phillip) Beach Park Advisory Council GET Beaches Park Advisory Council Leone Beach Park Advisory Council

49th Ward Updates The best way to stay informed of what is happening in the 49th Ward is by subscribing to our newsletter. This goes out weekly and includes information about community events, changes in ordinances, important city services information, updates on developments in the 49th Ward, and more. Sign up online . While you’re on this page, also scroll through recent updates below to stay up-to-date on what’s happening in the 49th Ward. Looking for the monthly City Council Updates archive? Click here ! Newsletter Archive 2024 Archive 2021 Archive 2026 Archive 2023 Archive 2020 Archive 2025 Archive 2022 Archive 2019 Archive

Infrastructure Our office is available to help answer questions you have related to infrastructure. If you have any questions, you can always reach us by emailing office@49thward.org or by calling (773) 338-5796 . Menu Allocations Metra Renovation Shared Cost Sidewalk Program Shoreline Study Speed Bumps

49 Expressions 49 Expressions is a virtual community art gallery created by the young emerging leaders of the 49th Ward Youth Advisory Council. Featuring over 70 pieces by local artists, this gallery highlights the artistic talent and character of Rogers Park. Featured artists range in age from 6 years old to 68 and include both traditional and nontraditional mediums. We thank and appreciate everyone who submitted art, and are excited to share it with the community. You can view the submissions and artist statements below, as well as the gallery's premiere presentation. Youth & Adult Submissions Erika Iris To make people happy with fun pop art Julie Ann Ausbrook Many of my experiences living in the 49th Ward center around viewing the neighborhood from my daughter’s eyes. My daughter’s life in the 49th Ward includes swimming at beaches, riding trains downtown, sampling food from different cultures, being surrounded by art, music, and theater, and attending school with children from diverse and rich backgrounds. One day, as we walked home from the playground, I decided to paint the wonderment seen in my daughter's eyes as she took in the beauty of our neighborhood. This piece, titled “Bait”, shows a figure sitting on a dock using a heart as fishing bait. It was inspired from the memory of dangling feet in the lake on warm days and being carefree with love. “STOP!” is an geometric abstract of urban landscape. It is also a call to action to stop, rather to stop the violence or to stop and notice beauty in the world. Yvette Wesley lewis lain lewis lain is narrative visual artist and illustrator residing in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood. His work focuses on storytelling, simple aesthetic, and recycled "resonant" material. He favors re-claimed windows and found-glass as canvas combined with cardboard and acrylic to create multi-dimensional paintings punctuated by saturated color and bold linework. www.lewislain.com Melanie Johnson As a studio artist, I work with all materials. I create based on whimsy and pull most ideas from a library of sketchbooks I have filled throughout the years. Nicholas Hayes Frolicking rabbits seem to be everywhere in our neighborhood. Friends have told me it is hard to believe something so delightful can be an infestation. I have tried to play with our complicated relation with rabbits in these ceramic pieces. Charlotte Cox This artwork is inspired by the piece “Time Transfixed” by Renè Magritte, an earlier example of surrealism. I used a random, everyday space, a bowling alley, as the base, similar to Magritte’s use of a simple fireplace mantle. From here, I used surrealism to bring color, excitement, and allure to the piece through random but interesting elements like mountains, skylines, and waves. Aviva Gladstein This piece is called A Full Moons Night. It was done with colored pencils. It is a scene of blue mountains under a dark night sky with a full moon. Mark Cleveland Living in, breathing in, and walking the streets and along the lakeshore in Roger's Park, cannot but influence the art work I make. Each piece I begin starts me on a path of discovery that through many twists and turns – requiring conscious and not-so-conscious decisions – leads me to my ultimate destination: a completed piece. The hope is that the work will transport viewers, however briefly, to that other place. Tim Newell In addition to being an actor in theatre, I’m an abstract expressionist painter; working with acrylics on canvas, and sometimes wood. My work has been influenced by the Abstract Expressionists of the 1940s, 50s, and 1960s. Two of my inspirations: Helen Frankenthaler and Richard Diebenkorn; both specialists in the Colourfield movement. Whether I express myself with my voice, or apply vivid colours and metallics to a canvas, I love expressing myself in the here and now. Terry Gant I paint to decompress just as much as I paint to express a thought or feeling. Sometimes we try and work through our issues consciously but I have found that painting helps me resolve an inner issue by coming at it from different angles. I also challenge my self by setting time goals so that whatever it is I need to work though, It's going to be done in a particular time frame. I may be decompressing but I don't have forever. Michael Pollard My work explores the intersections of my past and present. Influenced by daily life, Americana, modern art, loud music, and comic books. I use paint, found objects, canvas, discarded materials, and recurring marks to create a language and visual exploration reflecting my journey. Maureen McCarthy I have lived in Rogers Park since 1992. The beauty of the lakefront and the vibrancy of the neighborhood has made it a wonderful place to live. One of the beauties of this area is the ability to feel a vast space in such a crowded city. Any time of year, the lake is a precious part of the 49th ward. The lakefront can make you feel transported to a completely different world. Mandie Nufer Sam Bender This work, created over the last year, reflects my struggle to feel connected to a community while forced to be apart from it. Depicting many different visual styles and themes converging in space to become one whole, the divisions between them disappear the more closely they’re examined. *the piece is 44”Wx32”H* Lightning Goose - In these dark times, one goose steps forth. With lightning in her breath and love of community in her heart, Lighting Goose protects the 49th Ward. HONK! COVID-19 - At the start of the pandemic last year, I decided to paint what frightened me. While initially unsettling, it was comforting to have this terrible disease captured in some way. It has hung on my wall since April, a reminder to remain vigilant during this crisis. Crow on a Fencepost - The crows grow smarter every day, and we would do well to appease them. This crow looks out over the 49th Ward, its current home but future dominion. Rowan Hartfield The blue ball is Giant Ocean Planet, and the red ball is the nearest star. The mushroom creatures are toads protecting Giant Ocean Planet from the other creatures--a Spike Ship and Anti-missile that are trying to invade Giant Ocean Planet. This is a picture of a Goomba from Mario World. Aariyan Aga This is a pencil drawing of a typical foot bridge over a small brook in a village in the Kashmir Valley. Village women collect grass feed for their livestock. There are chinar trees in the background. A Sufi Shrine in the mountains of the Kashmir Valley. Raza Aga Rex Cassidy Rex is a non-binary artist living in Rogers Park, Chicago. They are graduating with their Master's in Art Education May 2021. Junior Submissions Abolaji O., Grade 2 Adrian D., Grade 1 Ana F., Grade 1 Daniel R., Grade 3 Jacqueline W., Grade 2 Jeremy H., Grade 4 Alfonso C., Grade 3 Antoine B., Grade 3 Daniela A., Grade 2 Jailyn J., Grade 1 Joel X., Grade 3 Jose A., Grade 4 Julian G., Grade 3 Leianne O., Grade 2 Nurbek A., Grade 4 Rebecca L., Grade 4 Serifat S., Grade 2 Simone L., Grade 4 Nusair Z., Grade 3 Rosemary S., Grade 4 Sheena C., Grade 4 Sophia N., Kindergarten Venus T., Grade 4

Zoning Change Requests One of the biggest concerns individuals have vocalized in the 49th Ward is a lack of a coherent plan for the development in the 49th Ward. Currently, development seems to be something that is just allowed to happen to us and community input, when allowed for, is often at the end of a decision-making process. Alderwoman Hadden wants to work with community residents to ensure that we truly have a transparent, community-driven zoning process. Additionally, she wants the community to collaborate with local builders and developers to determine what we want to see in the ward in the next 5, 10, and 15 years. Community driven zoning has worked in other wards and will work here as well. Zoning Change Process Zoning Change Packet

Menu Allocations View the menu allocations by year below. To view this in a separate browser, click on the brackets in the upper right-hand corner or click here .

Block Parties Block Parties allow neighbors to close residential streets that they live on to hold community-building and recreational events with their immediate neighbors. Organizations looking to host events or those looking to close arterial streets should apply for an outdoor special event permit instead. In order to host a block party, you must obtain a permit from the Department of Transportation to close your street. Street closures can occur from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on the day of your event. Applications can be obtained from our office. Once the application is completed. please return it to our office for processing. If this is your first time applying for a block party, our office asks that you communicate with your neighbors for support of the event. A house meeting to discuss dates & times is also highly recommended. We encourage you to submit your application at least 30 days in advance. Please be advised that neighbors are responsible for providing their own barricades for their events and must maintain a 10-foot minimum lane at all times to ensure emergency vehicles have clear access. The 49th Ward office is happy to provide non-enforceable "No Parking" signs to block party organizers. These signs must be hung up at least 48-hours in advance of the event. Since the signs are not enforceable, vehicles that remain parked will not be ticketed. CDOT Rules Regarding Block Party Permits Block Party Forms & Applications

Rogers Park Business Alliance Rogers Park Business Alliance (RPBA ) is a 501c3 non-profit organization established in 1993. RPBA works in the areas of business, community and economic development. We employ a professional staff and are governed by a volunteer Board of Directors composed of local business owners, residents and other stakeholders. RPBA Program Offerings Their entrepreneurial training program, GROW provides visionary entrepreneurs with the resources and tools Sustainable Rogers Park provides local businesses information, tools and connections to implement sustainable business practices. Their Glenwood Sunday Market is an award-winning farmers market, located on Glenwood Avenue between Lunt Avenue and Morse Avenue. Live Love Shop Rogers Park is their annual holiday, shop local campaign. RPBA administers three Special Service Areas offering commercial corridor revitalization to Howard Street SSA #19 , Clark/Morse/Glenwood SSA #24 , Devon Avenue SSA #43 and Sheridan Road SSA #54 .

Pratt Avenue Resurfacing Winter '24 - Spring '25 Timeline Neighbors, we have exciting news to share. This week, our office received notification from CDOT & contractors that Pratt Avenue from N. Western Ave. to N. Sheridan Rd. will be resurfaced beginning this year (during the winter of 2024), with a majority of the work scheduled for next year, spring 2025. Crews are tentatively scheduled to break ground beginning the week of November 25th, weather permitting. The work scheduled for this winter includes pavement patching, ADA sidewalk improvements, curb and gutter removal and replacement as needed for ADA and drainage compliance. To be clear, Pratt Avenue will not be ground and resurfaced this year. Only the above improvements will be made in winter 2025. The rest of the work including milling and paving the existing asphalt pavement, concrete bus pads, bike medians, and striping will be completed next spring. During construction, temporary “No Parking” signs will be periodically installed as required for each activity. These temporary signs will restrict parking during working hours for the completion of the work. The first phase of work (concrete work, ADA installation, and pothole filling) on Pratt Avenue is scheduled to be completed by December 31, 2024. We are looking forward to this stretch of Pratt receiving some much-needed attention. Last week, Alderwoman Hadden met with CDOT representatives for a walk-through of Pratt Avenue to bring to crews' attention specific potholes and areas in need of fixing. Our office has been assured by CDOT that they will prioritize these locations per Alderwoman Hadden's instruction. If you have any questions about the scope or duration of this project, please reach out to the office via email at office@49thward.org or call 773-33-5796.

Information on the 2026 Primary Election Key Dates: February 5, 2026: Board of Elections begins to send out Vote by Mail ballots February 12, 2026: Early Voting & Registration opens at downtown Supersite (137 S. State Street) and Board of Elections Office (69 W. Washington) February 17, 2026: Last day to submit paper voter registration forms (online and in-person registration remains available) March 1, 2026: Last day for online voter registration (in-person registration is available through Election Day) March 2, 2026: Early Voting and Registration open in all 50 wards March 12, 2026: Last day to apply for a Vote by Mail ballot March 17, 2026: General Election Day (6 am - 7 pm) Check Your Voter Registration Apply to Vote by Mail: Early Voting Begins March 2 in all 50 Wards: Early Voting Supersite Hours: How to Pull a Sample Ballot: Become an Election Judge:

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Past Development Decisions Click on one of the images below to learn more about the development proposal and decision-making process in the 49th Ward.