How Brighton Park Fought for Kelly Park

Brighton Park is the most park-poor neighborhood in the city of Chicago. Kelly Park renovations began when a group of community members noticed that youth and residents were frequently using a park that was not safe for youth to play. The uneven grounds and lack of resources and investment made Kelly Park unsafe to community

members.

In 2011 with the support of the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council (BPNC), community members decided to form a campaign to renovate Kelly Park and formally create a Kelly Park Advisory Council (KPAC). BPNC helped KPAC apply for grants to renovate Kelly Park.

One of these grants was the Cubs Charities Diamond Project grant. This grant helped us renovate our two baseball diamonds. Afterwards, we received another grant to do maintenance in the field and to purchase a new scoreboard.