Suburban Stadiums: Devonshire Cultural Center and Park

DEVONSHIRE CULTURAL CENTER AND PARK

Facility and History: With a vast array of recreational activities, Devonshire Cultural Center has become one of Skokie Park District’s most visited facilities. Devonshire houses an arts and ceramics studio, classrooms, dance studio, kitchen, music studio and theater. During the school year, it runs a preschool.

“This facility was not built as a cultural arts facility in the beginning, it was more of a gym, and they really kind of renovated it from a gym to a theater,” said Robin Horwitz, cultural arts facility manager for the Skokie Park District.

In its transition from a gymnasium to multidimensional community center, the Park District has made numerous changes at Devonshire. The institutional brick walls made the acoustics terrible during theater performances so the Park District installed cushioned baffles to help the sound. After putting in better lights, the agency will be adding quite a bit of sound equipment next year.

Programming and Events: The Devonshire Cultural Center at 4400 Greenwood Ave. is a versatile facility that houses a variety of classes and programs. It offers everything from marital arts to cooking to dance to music.

Dance classes at Devonshire range from introductory ballet for toddlers to hip hop. “A Taste of Latin and Ballroom” provides an introduction or refresher course in learning the Salsa, Tango and Foxtrot while “Beginner Belly Dance” gives women another fun option.

“The dance program has grown,” Horwitz said. “We started off with a very small group and we now have over 200 students in our dance program.”

Adult cooking classes are a relatively new activity at Devonshire after the classroom cooking-style kitchen was installed about six years ago.

“We knew we had to do something with that and really promote and get that going,” Horwitz said. “When I came on, that was one of the things we emphasized.”

Now they feature a number of classes for both children and adults. The “Adult Cooking Series” runs for six weeks and covers new components like soups, casseroles, and stews each class. The Park District also has cooking classes based around Halloween treats and Christmas goodies.

During the summer, Devonshire Park holds a series of outdoor concerts. In July and August, the featured musical performances cover a variety of genres and are typically given by groups from throughout the Chicago area.

Calendar:

July 31: Sunday Sundown Concert – Pamela Rose and Windy City Country

Aug. 7: Sunday Sundown Concert – The Associates