During our family’s quarantine we set some goals for getting outdoors - find our 100th geocache and visit Western Springs’ 13 parks. As we approach our 100th find, our son felt it was time we hid our own cache and what better place to hide than in a Western Springs park with no name - and the only one we had yet to visit!
If you are needing a new place to inspire an outside walk, head to a patch of green known simply as “Commemorative Bench” park or "No Name Park." While not the most exciting of park, the fact that it even exists is pretty cool and mysterious (we think).
Back in 2000, a Western Springs resident, who owned the property, offered to donate it to the Park District on three conditions. One: he (the donor is believed to have been male) would remain anonymous. Two: the Park District could not sell or release the property until 2003 or 2004 (Park District lawyer Rob Ekroth is unsure of the exact timeframe.) And three: a single bench, undedicated, would be erected on the lot.
And so it remains today.
Bring your own pencil!