Explore one of the largest architecture and urban festivals in the world as Open House Chicago (OHC) returns to celebrate 16 years of architecture, culture and community. Hosted by the Chicago Architecture Center, this free public festival offers behind-the-scenes access to more than 200 sites, including many that are not normally open to the public.

Visitors can walk and explore Palmisano Park on their own, and there will be short tours offered by the conservation nonprofit Openlands and landscape architect Site Design Group.

Henry Palmisano Park was originally a privately-owned, 380-foot deep limestone quarry that opened in 1836 by the Illinois Stone and Lime Company. It was later sold and converted into a landfill for construction waste for the City of Chicago from the 1970s until 1999. As a joint project between three City of Chicago agencies, the 27-acre site was transformed into an active and educationally focused environmental park in 2009. Palmisano Park includes fully accessible nature trails, wetland habitat, native plantings, recycled materials, bird and fish habitats, bioretention areas and a hill known by locals as “Mt. Bridgeport.”