A Queen in Garfield Park

If you’ve ever passed under the Golden Dome, 100 N. Central Park Ave. in Garfield Park, you may have noticed a regal face staring back at you from the stonework.

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Out & About
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October 13, 2025

If you’ve ever passed under the Golden Dome, 100 N. Central Park Ave. in Garfield Park, you may have noticed a regal face staring back at you from the stonework. Set into a round medallion, framed with carved garlands, is the image of a crowned woman in formal dress. She looks out at passersby with a stony gaze, her jewelry and crown signaling royalty. 

But what is a European queen doing on the side of a West Side fieldhouse?

When the Garfield Park Fieldhouse was built in 1928, architects Michaelsen & Rognstad leaned into a popular style of the day: Spanish Baroque Revival. That meant arches, shells, shields, cherubs, and yes—royal portraits. Buildings of this style borrowed from Spain’s imperial past to give a sense of grandeur and permanence, suggesting that even neighborhood park buildings could be as majestic as Old World palaces.

The queen carved into the wall isn’t meant to represent one specific monarch. Instead, she stands in for the idea of nobility and heritage. In a sense, her presence is aspirational—reminding West Siders that their community deserved beauty and dignity, not just utilitarian brick boxes.

So the next time you pass by the Fieldhouse, pause under the gaze of this stone sovereign. She’s a reminder that even in the heart of Chicago’s West Side, public architecture was once designed to inspire awe, pride, and belonging.

The crowned woman may be a representation of Queen Isabella of Castile (who, with Ferdinand, sponsored Columbus), or more broadly a symbolic “Queen” figure evoking Old World monarchy. In Spanish Baroque and Colonial Revival design, inserting royal or heraldic imagery was common to project grandeur, cultural refinement, and continuity with European traditions. | MIKE ROMAIN
The terrazzo floor of the Garfield Park Fieldhouse carries its own kind of ornament, with starburst patterns set in red, black, yellow, and gray stone chips. Installed when the building opened in 1928, these durable mosaic designs echo the Baroque flair of the exterior, reminding visitors that even the ground beneath their feet was meant to inspire civic pride and a sense of elegance in a neighborhood park building. | MIKE ROMAIN
Another of the Garfield Park Fieldhouse’s carved medallions, this one portraying a stern-faced nobleman in elaborate ruffled collar and armor. Like the crowned queen nearby, he isn’t meant to depict a specific historical figure, but rather to evoke the grandeur of Old World royalty and military authority—part of the building’s 1928 Spanish Baroque Revival design language that brought a sense of dignity and theater to a West Side park. | MIKE ROMAIN
Inside the “Golden Dome,” visitors are greeted by a soaring rotunda lined with gilded plasterwork, sculpted ceiling panels, and a circular balcony that wraps around the upper level. The elaborate detailing—complete with medallions, floral motifs, and ornamental railing—was intended to evoke the grandeur of European palaces. Nearly a century later, it still reflects the ambition of the West Side in the 1920s: to create public spaces that were not just functional, but uplifting works of art. | MIKE ROMAIN
The coffered ceiling of the Garfield Park Fieldhouse, with octagonal and diamond-shaped panels framed by intricate plasterwork. Each border is alive with carved vines, fruit, and flowers—an exuberant touch of Spanish Baroque Revival design. The geometry provides order, while the ornament celebrates abundance, turning the very ceiling into a work of art above the community space. | MIKE ROMAIN
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