Then and Now, Lake Park-50th

Lake Park Avenue runs parallel to the Illinois Central tracks. In 1950 the section between 47th and 55th Streets was lined on both sides with commercial structures. Most of the buildings here dated from the years just after the 1893 Columbian Exposition. Many locals feared that the neighborhood was in decline.

Urban renewal came to the area in the late 1950s. The old buildings along Lake Park were demolished, and the street itself was relocated 200 feet to the east, hard by the IC embankment. Today the site of the earlier photo is the athletic field of Kenwood Academy.

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