Taylor Staten Plans Membership-Based Teen Lounge in Hyde Park
The Parke, a café and art gallery for students aged 13 to 18, aims to provide a safe social space after school hours.
By Andrew Hayes ·
Architect Taylor Staten is developing a new membership-based venue in Hyde Park called the Parke. The space will function as a café, lounge, and art gallery for students aged 13 to 18. Staten intends to open the facility next year to offer young people a place for unstructured social time six days a week.
Staten identified a 3,400-square-foot storefront for the project but has not yet signed a lease. She plans to secure the space and begin renovations by early 2027. Her goal is to open the lounge for the 2027-28 school year. The venue will operate as a third space where teens can gather without the pressure of being over-programmed.
The food program will be handled by 7323 Chicago Café, a shipping container café in Woodlawn owned by Marquinn Gibson. Brie’s Cuisine, run by a friend of Staten from their time at Morgan Park High School, will also provide food. This partnership will give Brie’s Cuisine its first physical location. Urban Growers Collective, a Black- and woman-led nonprofit farm in South Chicago, will supply produce for the café.
The Parke will feature an art gallery with commissioned works from local creatives. Staten plans to hold a quarterly call for new submissions. The lounge will also host mental wellness sessions through a partnership with Mental Health Meets Hip-Hop. Additionally, the group plans a weekly wind-down party at the Harold Washington Cultural Center in Bronzeville. High school students with Chicago Public Schools IDs can pay $5 to dance to DJs and shop from local vendors at these events.
Staten said that after school dismissal, the area around Hyde Park schools can feel chaotic because teens have few options for socializing. Some business owners ban unaccompanied minors during these hours. She stated that the Parke is designed specifically for teens to be safe, seen, and welcomed. The space aims to counter biases against groups of young people, particularly Black teens, gathering in public.
A community meeting for the planned lounge is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 5 at the Sidney Agency, 1332 E. 67th St. in Woodlawn. Students and parents from Bret Harte and Murray elementary schools and Kenwood Academy and Hyde Park Academy high schools will receive priority for in-person attendance. The venue holds 50 people, and at least 300 had registered as of Tuesday. Those selected to attend in person will be notified by email, and the meeting will be livestreamed on the Parke’s Instagram page.
