Miller Park (Bloomington, Illinois)
Miller Park is a public park in Bloomington, Illinois, United States. It is in the southwest part of the city, on a large block south of Wood Street and east of Morris Avenue.
The park features a pavilion, an artificial lake, a zoo, softball fields, two war memorials, and a preserved steam locomotive, its tender (rail) and a caboose from the Nickel Plate Road which formerly served the area. The park also includes a mini golf course, sand volleyball courts and a playground.
During the warm weather of summer an outdoor theater provides productions for local people. On July 4 the park hosts a fireworks display which is launched over the lake.
Monkey Island[edit]
Miller Park was also once home to what the locals called "Monkey Island" during the 1960s. In the middle of man-made Miller Park Lake, there stood a platform with the metal dome that once belonged to McLean County Courthouse,[1] on which they had a live monkey exhibit, designed by Grover Kathoffer.[2] Though the exhibit has long been gone, many of the local residents remember the "Monkey Island" that once was.
See also[edit]
- List of historical sites related to the Illinois labor movement#Railroad Workers' Monument — description of the railroad monument and train
References[edit]
- ^ Steinbacher-Kemp, Bill. "Remnants all that's left of 3rd courthouse". Librarian/Archivist, McLean County Museum of History.
- ^ Burck, Wade G. (20 June 2011). "Vintage Miller Park Zoo--Bloomington, Illinois" – via circusnospin.blogspot.com.
External links[edit]
- Zoo website
- Voters backed establishment of Miller Park in 1887 - Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois newspaper)
- Miller Park Collection, McLean County Museum of History
40°28′04″N 89°00′17″W / 40.46778°N 89.00472°W
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