Chicago's Gately Park indoor project still in the starting blocks

New venue will address huge need for winter-time track venue in Chicago

By Eric Hofmann for DyeStat

Big time indoor track venues in the United States bring to mind the East Coast and the dozens of meets held at New York City’s Armory and Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex, along with Boston’s Reggie Lewis Center. 

Chicago, sorely lacking for an indoor facility, finally has a plan for a track on the city’s south side that could prove to be a game-changer.  

The Chicago Park District awarded a design and engineering contract in October to build a state-of-the-art indoor track and field venue at Gately Park in the Pullman neighborhood, 15 miles from the downtown “Loop.” 

Although there is still some waiting for part of the funding to come through in order to begin construction, the project is expected to take about 20 months after a contract is finalized. 

First announced in 2014, the project’s beginning has been held up by the Illinois state budget crisis. Before funds were frozen, a significant portion of the money to build the track was to come from state grants. 

A public indoor track will be welcomed in Chicago. 

Long known as a high school basketball hotbed, the city’s prep track programs have struggled to keep up with those in the suburbs and other cities. 

Even for teams willing to travel to the suburbs for competition, scheduling such events can be cumbersome. 

With many schools’ meet schedules remaining consistent from year to year and established relationships between suburban schools, city teams can have a difficult time breaking in. 

Jones College Prep High’s Andrew Adelmann, a prominent coach of one of Chicago’s most successful teams, believes the Gately Park track could provide more competition opportunities for local athletes and also be a magnet for elite level meets to come to the city. 

“University of Chicago and Proviso West have been extremely gracious hosts in accommodating large swaths of (Chicago Public School) teams, and the (University of Chicago Laboratory Schools) have helped immensely as well,” Adelmann said. “But, as anyone will tell you, these meets are overloaded and meet organizers still have to turn programs away due to logistical and practical constraints. Anything that alleviates that demand and opens up space for programs to compete indoors would go a long way in easing congestion and promoting greater involvement.”  

As for the specs, the building will cover 116,500 square feet. It will have a standard 200-meter banked track with six lanes plus eight separate sprint lanes, as well as areas for jumps and throws. Other amenities include warmup space, seating for 3,500 spectators, meet management space, concessions and locker rooms.   

For a frame of reference, established venues like The Armory in Upper Manhattan and Boston’s Reggie Lewis Center stay busy all winter with 80-100 meets per season. The new track at Gately Park could expect that sort of traffic as well.  

“(Gately Park) could be crucial in promoting the sport and the city, as well as the Illinois track scene,” Adelmann said. “It goes without saying how well prepared Chicago already is to host major events … This facility could extend far beyond city level competition and I don’t see a reason that Chicago could not use this in a push to host major NCAA or USATF-level meets, including national championships.” 

Gately Park is steps away from the Metra Electric train line. Additionally, Chicago is home to two major airports and a relatively central location for domestic travel. 

Western athletes would have to cross only two time zones to reach Chicago, rather than three to the East Coast. The NCAA, in particular, is known for choosing sites in the Midwest, Southwest and Southeast for the Division 1 indoor championships. 

Although those in the track and field community see the project as much needed and long overdue, there are still many details to work out. 

One new facility in the nation’s third-most populous city will not bring an end to sprinters training in school hallways and field event athletes without venues to hone their craft. 

With thousands of high school, middle school and club athletes throughout the city competing for precious time in the new facility, coaches will still need to find creative ways to condition their teams. 

The lack of facilities is only one of many challenges faced by Chicago high school programs, Adelmann said. 

Youth club coach Heraldo Morrison said his team’s athletes must obtain YMCA memberships and share the small track with casual health club members. 

Morrison is enthusiastic about the new Park District track, but acknowledges, “there will be a high demand for the use of the track because it will be the only one in the city.” 

The only other indoor tracks in Chicago are privately owned by the University of Chicago and De La Salle Institute. 

The University of Chicago once played a key role in the history of track and field, not only in Chicago, but in the U.S. 

The university hosted the National Interscholastic Track and Field Championships (outdoor) from 1902 until the mid-1930s. Jesse Owens starred in the 1933 championship meet, which was held at Soldier Field. 

Once it’s built, Gately Park has the potential to alter the landscape of track and field in Chicago, often overlooked, but not without a proud history.