New Million-Dollar Park to Benefit from Meatheads Fundraiser

A popular burger joint in Roscoe Village is giving back to the neighborhood again, this time by donating 10 percent of proceeds to a new million-dollar park slated for School Street.

The deal is going down on March 14 at Meatheads Burgers & Fries, located at 3304 N. Western Ave. Residents can snag anything from their menu and subsequently benefit the community.

It’s the same giveback the restaurant has done in the past, but rather than donating a percentage of the proceeds to YMCA or Lane Tech High School’s girls basketball team, Meatheads struck a deal with the School Street Park Advisory Council.

The School Street Park is the brainchild of Ald. Tom Tunney (44th), the Chicago Cubs and the advisory council’s president Jackie Earley, among others, and it’s been in the works for more than 10 years. And coming in at more than 21,000-square-feet, the space at 1230 W. School St. is slated to become the largest playlot in Lake View.

New designs were presented to the public in January, and although Earley excitedly said they are almost perfect, a lot more fundraising needs to happen to make the park a reality. That’s where Meatheads comes in.

“We have more fundraising to do still,” Earley said in January. “This isn’t the situation where the community can sit back and do nothing. We want this trophy that shows the community working together toward one goal.”

The entire park is estimated to cost upwards of $2.5 million. Between land donated by Craftsman Planting & Tinning and monetary commitments from Ald. Tom Tunney, the Chicago Park District, Sen. John Cullerton and the Cubs, the team effort is making construction possible.

Earely says the advisory council already raised more than $58,000, a large chunk of money, but still a long way from the $200,000 goal. 

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