I am grateful for the
friendships I have made in the community where I have lived for the last
fourteen years. A community which has given me far more than I shall ever
give to it, that typical, cheery, suburban town, Wilmette, Ill.
-
Arthur H. Howard
Arthur H. Howard was born
in Hyde Park, Massachusetts in 1876, was a graduate of Harvard University, and
worked for U.S. Steel for the vast majority of his career. He and his
wife, Emeline, moved to Wilmette in 1909 and had three children, Joseph, Frances and Edward.
Howard was captain of
the local unit of the Illinois Reserve Militia. He was the senior warden of
the Wilmette Masonic Lodge, a director of the First National Bank of Wilmette, a deacon of the First
Congregational Church, president of the Wilmette board of education and an
outstanding civic leader in the community.
The ground we play on each
week is named for him.
Let's take a few moments
to learn some Howard history (with much gratitude to Patrick Leary of the Wilmette Historical Society for help).
NEW SCHOOLHOUSE - 1922
On March 11, 1922, a vote
was held to acquire land and build a new schoolhouse. The property was situated between Ridge Avenue on the west, 17th Street on the east, the first
alley north of Washington Street on the south and the first alley south of Lake Avenue on the north.
The schoolhouse would sit
on the east tract while a large community playground would be established on
the west tract and come to be known as the Village Green.
At the time, Wilmette
schools were described as "deplorably crowded." Also, residents
in the vicinity of the new schoolhouse found it favorable in many ways
including minimizing the necessity of crossing tracks in daily journeys to
and from school, which was a constant source of anxiety for parents.
The vote was an overwhelming success with 360 voting for and 21 voting against.
SCHOOL BOARD ELECTION - 1922
Soon after the vote to acquire the land and build the new schoolhouse, Arthur Howard ran for president of the board of education and won a tough election.
SCHOOLHOUSE COMPLETION - 1924
In May 1924, a letter from Arthur H. Howard, president of the board of education, and J.R. Harper, superintendent of schools, was sent to citizens of the village announcing the completion of the newly named Ridge School.
In May 1924, a letter from Arthur H. Howard, president of the board of education, and J.R. Harper, superintendent of schools, was sent to citizens of the village announcing the completion of the newly named Ridge School.
The school opened on September 15, 1924.
ARTHUR HOWARD'S DEATH
On November 8, 1924, two months after Ridge School started session, Arthur Howard, passed away at his home, a victim of heart failure.
Four days after his death, the board of education adopted resolutions changing the name of the Ridge School to the "Arthur H. Howard School" in recognition of Mr. Howard's unceasing devotion to the educational interests of the village and his personal supervision of the construction of the newest public school building.
"I know of no other man in the village who was as intensely interested in and gave as much time to the schools as did Mr. Howard," said J.R. Harper. "He visited and inspected the various classrooms of the public schools quite frequently and always worked for the betterment of conditions. During his administration the Ridge School project was carried to a successful conclusion. Mr. Howard was actively interested in all the details of the construction and maintained a personal supervision over the work. Time after time he was seen on the grounds while the building was going on to see that everything was being done according to specifications."
HOWARD SCHOOL THROUGH THE YEARS
When the school opened in the fall of 1924, it offered kindergarten through eighth grade programs.
By 1960, the school had been converted into a junior high school with an enrollment of 785 students. In 1970, sixth graders moved in as well. Howard School's enrollment peaked in 1975 at 917 students.
The school had about 140,000 square feet of building area with a 1,174 seat auditorium, three gyms and approximately 60 rooms. Since the original construction in 1924, Howard School had five subsequent additions, the last one in 1970.
VILLAGE GREEN - 1973
In 1973, the Wilmette park district obtained jurisdiction over the Village Green tract, the area west of the school, by lease after the village adopted an ordinance relinquishing all responsibility for recreation in Wilmette to the park district. It was at this time that the ice rink on the Village Green was discontinued with the opening of Centennial Ice Rink.
HOWARD SCHOOL CLOSING- 1979
Howard School remained an important part of the community for 55 years. It was operating as a junior high until after the 1978-79 school year when it was closed due to declining enrollment. By 1968, enrollment began to decline in all Wilmette schools. Three schools had previously closed in the prior ten years.
In 1979, the process started to determine what to do with the property and the building.
Various options were contemplated such as planned urban development, senior housing, vocational training center, performing arts center, warehouse, mothballing or demolition.
SCHOOL DEMOLITION/PARK CONSTRUCTION - 1982 - 1986
Various options were contemplated such as planned urban development, senior housing, vocational training center, performing arts center, warehouse, mothballing or demolition.
SCHOOL DEMOLITION/PARK CONSTRUCTION - 1982 - 1986
In March 1982, after several public hearings
and an advisory referendum, the village, park district, and
the Wilmette school board decided that the Howard School parcel would be best
utilized if sold to the village. The village would, in turn, demolish the
school and lease the site to the park district.
The plan further envisioned that the park district would develop and then consolidate the Village Green and Howard School parcels to form an enlarged recreational area to be called Howard Park.
The plan further envisioned that the park district would develop and then consolidate the Village Green and Howard School parcels to form an enlarged recreational area to be called Howard Park.
When Howard School was razed, the copper cupola was saved, with the intention of using it as a memorial to the school. The park district decided that the cost of mounting the cupola into a permanent memorial was too great so the students of Howard School, led by the student council, raised money to save the cupola. The cupola was installed in the spring of 1986 and was dedicated on June 14, 1986.
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| Howard Park cupola during demolition. |
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| Howard Park cupola today. |
In 1983, the park district took down the old lights and installed a high wattage halogen light system over two of the softball diamonds without obtaining village zoning approval.
It should be noted that one corner of the old Village Green had been lit for night baseball since the 1940's, and park district literature told voters before the 1982 referendum that any lighting changes made during the construction of the Howard Park would "be made only if they have minimal effect on the surrounding neighborhood."
The Wilmette Village President at the time was Vernon Squires. Vern blasted the park district for its "obstinate, obstreperous and belligerent" attitude about the lights and issued a plea for "a little compromise and understanding" to help settle the matter. (Vern is a friend from church and when we have dinner in a few weeks I plan to find out the definition of obstreperous so I can use it in a future blog.)
The battle went to court and lasted until 1986, when the village finally won in after the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that the park district must abide by
local zoning laws.
As we know, the lights were eventually fully installed (and now turn off automatically at 10pm sharp!).
HOWARD PARK - PRESENT DAY
Today Howard Park is home to many activities including our beloved 16" softball, lacrosse, girls' 12" softball, Wilmette Eagles football, as well as the Warming House Youth Center.
Like Arthur Howard, I am also grateful for the friendships I have made in the community. These bonds are strengthened under the bright lights where the Cougars occasionally get schooled. It is quite poetic that today's Cougar Green play on the former Village Green.
HOWARD PARK - PRESENT DAY
Today Howard Park is home to many activities including our beloved 16" softball, lacrosse, girls' 12" softball, Wilmette Eagles football, as well as the Warming House Youth Center.
Like Arthur Howard, I am also grateful for the friendships I have made in the community. These bonds are strengthened under the bright lights where the Cougars occasionally get schooled. It is quite poetic that today's Cougar Green play on the former Village Green.
FOOTNOTES
After recapping the grand history of Howard Park, the game we played last night is really just a footnote. We played Slaughter House 9 and won 5-0. On offense, Boom was 3 for 3 with two runs scored, Rads had a 3-run dinger with two runs scored, Hogs had a hit and scored a run and Diddy and Bobi contributed hits. On defense, Martini's pitching was stellar and everyone was solid behind him, highlighted by a Flandog over-the-shoulder, wide receiver like catch. Given the blog's celebration for Howard Park, Bobi appropriately provided a fantastic postgame down the north end of the Village Green.
The most interesting piece I found unrelated to Howard can be found at this link. The headline is about duck hunting and the opening sentence begins with "Four Wilmette nimrods..." I chuckled every time I read it.
The most interesting piece I found unrelated to Howard can be found at this link. The headline is about duck hunting and the opening sentence begins with "Four Wilmette nimrods..." I chuckled every time I read it.
The blog today is essentially an aggregation of many news items from the last 90 years that I found at the Wilmette Library and the Wilmette Historical Society. My sources of information can be found in the links above as well. In many instances, I blatantly copied and pasted or retyped certain passages. Just want to make that clear so I don't go to plagiarism jail.
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