South Shore Cultural Center

This spot has incredible architecture inside and out that is full of history. There is a magical little footpath with a pond and beautiful sights out back. It's perfect for a walk to clear your mind.

Went in to show friends the beautiful facilities. Wonderful security guard took us into some of the locked rooms. It was beautiful! Very kind of her to give us a peak. She told us about the summer concerts that are held at the site. We will look into those events as we love this building. It is a paid parking lot, but the prices are cheap. I want to come back and walk the lakefront from this location. It is a popular wedding and event venue. The building is beautiful and well maintained. The grounds are gorgeous. Beautiful flowers during the summer.

It has been restored and presents the glamour of decades ago. I have always loved the close-up view of Lake Michigan. Forgive the low grade pics, I was using my back-up phone.

We came for an afternoon string quartet concert that was part of the Chicago Symphony program. I had never been to the Art Center before. With a beach and golf course, it is quite a complex. Perfect for weddings and events. The building is very large and is in great shape, though it seems under used. If you can visit for an event, please do!

I took ballet classes from Joel Hall Dancers here this summer. Such a beautiful venue with a nearby lagoon, golf course, and even a butterfly garden! And for you Chicago cinephiles, it's where the "Palace Hotel Ballroom" scene in The Blues Brothers was filmed! (Maybe Jake, Elwood, and Curtis will stop by next time I'm here?)

Love the history of this building. My only issue was that the floors had not been vacuumed. I wore a floor-length black tulle dress with a train, and it picked up everything.

I feel like I found a secret gem. We came to the South Shore Cultural Center to attend a wedding. We were early so why not jump in THE Lake. The view was spectacular, the beach was clean and there were plenty of lifeguards. The little cafe staff members were very friendly and diligent. Just such a wonderful afternoon!

This is one of the most beautiful places to visit in Chicago. It was a former country club and has been very well-kept since the park district took it over. It’s an awesome place to have a wedding and the views from the room and ballrooms are breathtaking. There’s a nice 9 hole golf course on site and paid parking in front. This is a must see if you visit Chicago. It is open to the public during certain hours.

I was here for beach karaoke that happens every first Sunday of the month, except in July. We had a blast. There is lots of open space to come for a picnic or just chill near the beach. There is plenty of inexpensive parking and it's quick and easy to pay.

Have attended here so many times over the years for so many different events, including a wedding reception, golf, art exhibit, meeting conference, video shoots and just to hand out. The South Shore Cultural Center is that kind of place. It's a Chicago landmark, located right off the banks of Lake Michigan. It's an all purpose venue that's been catering to the community and beyond for over 100 years. A great option to consider for any special occasion

I attended my favorite nephew's wedding reception here a couple of weeks ago. The Center is located in the South Shore area of Chicago and was formerly the South Shore Country Club. The Center is a Chicago Landmark, and is listed on the National Register. It was built in 1916 and sits on the bank of Lake Michigan. I loved the decor, chandeliers, and marble floors. It features a solarium, formal dining hall and the Paul Robeson Theater. Green features of the park include a nature sanctuary and a butterfly garden. Outside, the park offers a nine-hole golf course, beach, and open spaces for picnics and walks. In addition to golf, the Center offers dance, music, art, health, fitness and culinary classes. What I loved most about this venue was the feeling of stepping back in time. It was such a relaxing venue and a beautiful event. It's a shame my phone battery needed charging, hence, no photos!

What a beautiful center doing great work in the Chicago community filled with rich and deep history. We can here for a tour with our company and it was so lovely. And even better to know your supporting local.

03/14/21 - South Shore Cultural Center @ 7059 South South Shore Drive; Chicago, IL. Is a beautiful building located on a 71 acre park that is part of The Chicago Park District. The building sits down a long drive drive lined w/a colonnade on both sides of an oval drive w/the Cultural Center centered within the colonnade. Besides the actual Cultural Center there is a golf course butting up to Lake Michigan on the east. There is also a small beach & to the south of the golf course and an aviary to the South of that. I was out here a few weeks earlier during the polar vortex. I wanted to explore a little more but the wo/knowing where the shoreline ended & the water began I was a little tentative to venture out without knowing where the solid ground was & the lake began. Today the snow and ice was gone & I was able to venture out towards the south end where the aviary is and witness a gorgeous sunrise. It's so peaceful & quiet and I was able to explore the grounds where there is a small pond that had a few Mallards swimming around. The seagulls (nasty creatures) but majestic in flight as they soared on the air currents (& pooped on my car, bastards lol ). There are grasslands where nesting birds can live along w/trees & bushes. The Chicago Cultural Center is beautifully maintained by the Chicago Park District & open to the public.

Two words. THE BEACH. I have visited this beach in numerous occasions both this summer and last summer when I "discovered" this gem of a beach. Big, clean sandy beach with a million dollar view of the city. The beach is relatively shallow so good for kids and no sharp rocks or shells you have to walk over to get to the water. There are seldom more than 20 people on the beach. It feels like a private beach! Plenty of (paid) parking a short walk to the beach and plenty of grassy areas under trees for BBQ, picnicking and just hanging out. One drawback is the beach house bathroom facility is filthy and in really bad condition. The bathrooms in the Cultural Center are a much better choice. I think the lifeguards won't be on the beach after Labor Day but there is plenty of warm days still left to enjoy a day at the beach! See you there!

We held our wedding reception here two weeks ago. It was a dream. I could not be happier. The interior of the building gave us the antique, classic vibe we were looking for. Our cocktail hour was in the Solarium and dinner in the Dining Room. Our guests - most of whom where Chicago residents - were amazed they hadn't been to this hidden gem and we were happy to let them know Barack and Michelle, too, were married here. Valerie, Alisa, and Oren were awesome to work with. They were always accessible and helpful. Because this is a chicago park district building there was quite a bit of paperwork involved (and expected in Chicago) but it was worth it ten fold. The only downsides were the distance from the city (which a rented shuttle remedied) and the need to bring other vendors in (the SSCC doesn't have anything in house and is a venue-only). If I could do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing. Love this place!

I discovered The South Shore Cultural Center, today while on a bike ride. It's located at S. 71st Street and South Shore Drive. Yes, that's 15 miles south of Buena Park where I live. To my great provincial North Sider surprise, I discovered a 65-acre park with a golf course, tennis courts, nature sanctuary, a bathing beach that is free to the public, and an impressive Mediterranean Revival building, This place is a real testament to Peckerwood Hubris of a time past in Chicago history, The place originated as the South Shore Country Club in 1905. The club's directors commissioned architects Marshall and Fox, who later designed many of Chicago's most luxurious hotel and apartment buildings, such as the Drake.. The place was successful as a private club until the 1950's, when since they excluded blacks from membership, and that's exactly who moved into the neighborhood, it ultimately in the 1970's went "mehoola" (broke). In 1974, the Chicago Park District purchased the property to expand its lakefront facilities. They planned to demolish the deteriorated clubhouse, but community members saved the historic building. In the late 1970s, the Park District rehabilitated the clubhouse as what is now the Cultural Center, and they have since restored other historic features including the front colonnade, entry gate and stables. Today, for free, there are numerous activities and classes ranging from free films, dance, Pilates, cooking, Yoga, and ceramics. The old dining room is open to the public as the Parrot Cage Restaurant, run by the Washburne Culinary Institute of Kennedy-King College. Truly this is a jewel of a public resource. Here are a few pictures: A view from the main lobby out to the Solarium: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/EbVSPM3-7ukoGEgqKemTGw?select=GjAaidJDuhvkki8wUnWo4g And the garden bordered by Japanse Pagodas and a double driveway. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/EbVSPM3-7ukoGEgqKemTGw?select=B14hee5YqRoIJ6dIzaHALQ

We had both our ceremony and reception at the South Shore this past August and we highly recommend this venue. The building is beautiful and spacious, and is perfect for a wedding. Both the inside rooms and the outside spaces of this venue were great; we used the Solarium and the Dining Room for our event, and held the cocktail hour partly on the patio. There is even a beach area in the back which was great for pictures. While we loved having our wedding here and still recommend this venue there were a few issues we had. Since this is located in a public park, the park was still open during our event. We were repeatedly told, and even confirmed this on the week of, that no park visitors would be able to set up or walk behind the area that our ceremony overlooked - this was not the case. During our ceremony there were people walking behind us, visible to us and our guests. Additionally, we were not too satisfied with the communication with the South Shore staff. At times it was difficult to get a response to our questions and hard to get in touch with anyone at the office. Other than these things, our event went very smoothly and are so happy we had our wedding here!

Wow - I'd never been here before, but recently visited for an event and it was so lovely! I can't believe I've never been at an event here as I've been to spots all over the city. The gardens are lovely and the architecture is really nice and I love the set up. Definitely a great spot to visit! They do a great job with events as well.

I really like checking this place out. I usually ride my bike from around the Hyde Park area. It's pretty easy to get to as there is a bike trail the will take you right to the entrance. It has several activities you can do there. I have walked the brief nature trail and have walked around the old facilities. I was fortunate enough to see the ball rooms and theater one evening. There is a restaurant over there as well which I would like to check out sometime. The outside appearance of the building itself is unique and pretty neat IMO. I hope it sticks around for a long time due to its uniqueness. If you are on the south side it's worth checking out. At the very least, if you are a fan of the Blues Brothers, you should def check it out as parts of the film was shot here!

The fest with Robin Thicke was good but why did the alderman wait until Robin Thicke started performing to make a speech and Introduce people. We'd waited 5 hours to see Robin Thicke just listening to random music and acts we'd never heard of. Where was the Alderman then. It was TV commercials, time to change the channel or leave the room for a snack. There was no schedule for the shuttle although the driver was very nice. Why half the vendors were on the other side of the stage and people didn't know they were there and it was too hard to get over there. Food was overpriced and we never saw Sam Chatman or the line dancers, Fre2dance perform. But we sat for hours listening to random music.

We had our wedding reception at the South Shore CC and it couldn't have been more perfect. Initially we wanted to reserve the ballroom, but, it was too large for our party, so we had the solarium, which was perfect for our approx. 150 guests. Fortunately, they allow you to bring in outside catering, because frankly their food is not great, but, the location more than makes up for it. It's right on the lakefront, so you have the luxury of immediate outdoor access for your guests as well as the protection of indoor coverage should the weather turn. This was 7 years ago, but, I believe the room rental was a mere $1300 for 5 hours, and when we extended our reception to a 6th hour they were kind enough to let us do so without additional charge. The grounds are beautiful and we lucked out and had a perfect Chicago June day; little to no humidity, light breeze, 80 degrees.

This is an absolutely beautiful space - the Solarium or the Dining room would be amazing for larger receptions. The view of the beach is amazing, and the building itself is probably a historical landmark I don't know enough about. We found that South Shore was one of the more expensive options we looked at (certainly not "reasonable budget" level), especially with the not-so-small rental fee and then needing to bring in a Park District Approved caterer. One tip - the Washburne Culinary Institute, which runs the Parrot Cage Restaurant, could potentially do your catering for less, if you are going with this venue. Other pitfalls of this as a wedding venue are parking (pay-to-park, and in a public lot), the public-park-ness of the surrounding grounds (folks will be picnicking if it's a nice day), the lack of nearby hotels, and the per-room rentals. Plus the hassle of dealing with the Park District, which is just a little more than I wanted to go through.

The South Shore Cultural Center was formerly known as the South Shore Country Club, an exclusive and restricted institution. In the 1970s, the city saved the palatial country club building and grounds from being torn down, and today the club is free and open to the public. It's got its own beach, which is free and open to the public like all other park-district owned beaches, as well as nature trails, golf courses, and the building itself, which is available for public tours and booking for private parties. It is also home to The Parrot Cage restaurant, which is run by the Washburne Culinary Institute of Kennedy-King college (also housed at the cultural center). This is one of Chicago's greatest treasures, and can be seen for free. South Shore, a neighborhood in the middle of a huge revival, is a fascinating place to visit, and the cultural center is its crown jewel. The beach is never crowded, and therefore is always really clean, and the nature trails are beautiful and fun to walk through (they have a lily pond with frogs, a birding trail, etc.) From what I understand, golf is relatively cheap here. Also, the building is beautiful, and touring it is fascinating. The food at The Parrot Cage was a bit disappointing, but I was there for a banquet-style office holiday party, so I'm sure it's better when ordered individually. I cannot recommend this place enough. Do yourself a favor and check it out.

I agree with the other review of this place. It's also a great plac eto enroll your kids in various programs throughout the year especially the summer sports camps and such. I also agree that the gentrification of south shore is in full swing and is already becoming a pretty good place to live with all the condos and such being built and or converted from apartments. Getting back to the cultural center, it's a great place to have an event in at one of the stages as well and the golf is good.

It's a shame more public events aren't held here. The South Shore Cultural Center is truly amazing. I came here on a Saturday morning for the Chicago 13.1 run last week and had no problem finding free parking that was within walking distance (no abundant parking meter garbage here). The grounds were clean and the building itself is immaculate with beauty of a bygone era of Chicago history. If you're a resident or visitor, make a trip up to check it out. It's worth the trek to visit this true gem in Chicago.

Nice Atmosphere staff professional mannered.... Mellow Place for An Event, Stepping, Party, Etc.....

I had my wedding here in 2011. Perfect venue. We had the ceremony in the Solarium overlooking the beach, the cocktail reception indoor and outdoor and the reception in the larger ballroom. Pictures were exquisite with beach shots and interior shots with the amazing architecture as the backdrop. Food from the caterer on the venue's list was amazing and one little detail...the library room which serves as the bridal prep suite was so classy and perfect. I would highly recommend this beautiful venue for a wedding. It is truly magical.

Was there in June 2018 (when it was 90 degrees and humid) for a wedding. Everything was lovely until the reception in the main ballroom where the air conditioning was broken. They said they were "working on it" but it wasn't fixed for the entire night. It is an old building and they need to have a back up plan.

My husband and I had both our wedding ceremony and reception here in May 2010. The space was so amazing and beautiful, it was exactly what we were looking for. I have to admit, I was a bit nervous about working with the Chicago Park District instead of a private company, but everyone was great to work with and they made things very easy!

We had our wedding ceremony and reception here and were very happy with our experience. It is an absolutely beautiful place for a wedding- we had our ceremony in the Solarium overlooking the lake and our reception in the Dining Room. It is so beautiful that we took all of our professional pictures here. The grounds and building are really pretty, you have the lake, and there's a dunes/pond area right around the corner from the lake. You do have to jump through some hoops and the people who work here are very busy but overall it wasn't bad working with the park district. It's not a budget option because the rental fee isn't cheap and you have to use one of their catering options, but it's not bad for the city. We were very glad we were able to have our wedding there, it truly is a stunning space!

SUMMER CAMP NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The place is a very nice and elegant place. But not so much as for the summer camp program. The staff is pretty consistent with a few new people every summer. The Camp Director Andrea Adams, is a real nasty attitude having person. She's an old ass prude. She talks to you as if she knows everything about everything. She makes crazy ass rules and she's not so nice to the kids. The campers hardly go outside to enjoy the weather. Most of the week is spent indoors. I write this review now because this is the time that decisions are being made about summer day camp. I want to save you the time the money, and trouble that I wasn't spared. Choose another camp to send your little ones to. The park district should really consider replacing this person. The camp's attendance last year was down from the previous year. Makes me wonder if other families who use the Culture Center's Camp has also had enough of Ms. Andrea Adams.

I can't believe this venue is owned by the Chicago Park District! Lovely space, incredible views and top-notch service. You feel like you stepped back in time. Do not hesitate to book an event here.

Just got married here in September: It is a wonderful old building with tons of character, amazing views, and lots of light-filled rooms for a larger group. Yes, it's an old building but that's a plus - having so much history and architectural details. We did the package with the Solarium (which we used for the ceremony) and Dining Hall (for reception). Cocktails were in the foyer outside the Dining Hall and that worked nicely for flow. We also used the beautiful Music Room upstairs as a bridal suite. SheShe Taylor is the special events coordinator and she is amazing. Sometimes it takes a few days to get a response but she knows the building inside and out and answered about a hundred questions from me over the course of planning our wedding. Such a nice and patient person. Everyone commented on how beautiful the site was and how they loved the building, which was what we wanted. We definitely wanted something different than the typical hotel or banquet hall wedding and so that part was great. Just some helpful tips to keep in mind if you're considering your wedding here: -Yes, there's a rental fee but you will also pay your caterer a 10% tax of your total food, liquor, and rental rate so with a large wedding, this added several thousand to our bill above the rental fee. -If you are OCD like me and care about the details and the small things, I'd highly recommend getting a day-of wedding planner. There's no one to really help with the small stuff otherwise. All of the small things that annoyed me or went wrong that day would have gone smoothly with a planner so I regret not getting one. Otherwise, it's a wonderful place for a wedding if you're willing to spend a bit more than average. Don't get me wrong - it's not the most expensive place in the city by far, but it's not cheap either.

On last weekend, I held a 25th Anniversary celebration for the Pastor of Beth Eden Baptist Church. Andrea Stokes and her staff (Patrick Milhouse included) were absolutely the best! From the beginning planning stages up to and including the event! As you should imagine, everything was....simply the best! It was a perfect day! I enjoyed working with such a great group of people! Thank you!!!

We had our wedding ceremony and reception here in September 2011. We could not have picked a better spot! We know that working with Chicago Park District can be challenging, but Andrea Stokes helped us through the planning process, answering all of our questions along the way. We had our ceremony in the Solarium and our reception in the big pink ballroom - everything was set up beautifully and the entire night was wonderful. The only negative we can think of, which probably wasn't SSCC's fault, is that it was very difficult to get taxis to pick up our guests. To be fair, this was on Labor Day Weekend, so it was probably very busy. Overall though we would highly recommend utilizing this beautiful venue for a wedding celebration!

Solid venue! Great space and affordable. A bit far from the city but was worth the trip down for our Gala. The evening ended up being successful. The management and help that we received during setup and the Gala was top notch. I would definitely keep them in mind again for any other events I may throw or be part of.

The grounds are immaculate. Growing up my family used to drive past the cultural center everyday, twice a day. Since I was at the time in my literary classics phase, the arched stone front struck me as a majestic entrance to a magical netherworld. It was years before I ever walked through those doors myself, and it was everything I'd hoped for when I did. This place is a jewel, and a bedrock of sociohistorical reverence for the community.

South Shore is a beautiful place to have a wedding reception. We did appetizers and dancing in the Solarium and dinner in the ballroom in July of 2008. The rental fee includes the tables and chairs you need, parking is free, and their staff is really great. We got a ton of compliments on the unique venue and on the view of the lake.

i used to come here all the time when I was a kid . It is a very beautiful building and nice beach as well.. One one the few treasures in Chicago.

I'm in love with it. It's a calling card of a Chicago that doesn't exist anymore.

i am very envious of those who had a four or five star experience. i have dined here twice and both times felt a little less than welcome. The first time the hostess was definily lacking in tact and dipomacy. The seating was cramped and awkward.. The second time we had a party of four (two the first time) and thought we might rate a better table, but no such luck. The first time the dinning room was empty, therefore I could not understand the cramped seating. The second time is was more understandable. The food is great and the student waiters could not be more accomodating. We have a reservation for Friday. This time it's the third pitch. If you strike out, that's it. SIT ME BY THE DOOR ONE MORE TIME AND YOU WILL NEVER SEE ME AGAIN!!