Allies of Marquette Park are a group of neighbors dedicated to reactivating Marquette Park and making it a more valuable resource for the Dutchtown and South Side community.

Marquette Park is the largest park in the Dutchtown area, covering several blocks across Compton Avenue just north of Downtown Dutchtown. Marquette can and should be the centerpiece of our growing neighborhood. However, tight budgets and deferred maintenance mean the park lacks in many ways. AMP seeks to raise funds and interest to bring Marquette Park up to the standards that our neighbors deserve.

One-Time Donation   Sustaining Donation

Bringing Investment and Opportunity to Marquette Park

AMP’s initial investments in the park were straightforward: new pool furniture and planting more trees. Starting in 2019, AMP began surveying the park and facilities to assess its needs and engage the community about what it’d like to see the park become in the future. The top priorities included new playground equipment, an outdoor basketball court, and the replacement of the barbed wire fence around the outdoor pool.

In 2020, AMP partnered with PGAV to create an award-winning Marquette Park 2.0 Plan for phased improvements. The plan can be found here.

Young people play futsal on the court at Marquette Park in Dutchtown, St. Louis, MO.

In the fall of 2021, Allies of Marquette Park partnered with businesses, organizations, private donors, and the St. Louis CITY SC Major League Soccer team to install a new futsal court at Marquette Park. Looking forward, Allies of Marquette Park hope to continue improving soccer facilities at the park and establish Marquette Park as a destination for soccer in St. Louis.

In the summer of 2024, Allies of Marquette Park partnered with Lutheran Development Group to replace the deteriorating playground equipment with a larger play structure and improve drainage in the area. Neighbors celebrated the new playground with a ribbon cutting on August 4th, 2024, at Marquette Community Day, an annual back-to-school event that draws hundreds of South Side families to Marquette Park.

St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones and 3rd Ward Alderman Shane Cohn appear with Allies of Marquette Park and Dutchtown Main Streets board members at the ribbon cutting for the new basketball courts at Marquette Park. Photo by Chip Smith of Cross Grand.
Photo by Chip Smith of Cross Grand.

The summer of 2024 also saw the grand opening of Marquette Park’s outdoor basketball and pickleball courts, which replaced old and underutilized tennis courts. The City of St. Louis and the American Rescue Plan Act funded the courts.

The Future of Marquette Park

Since working with PGAV on the Marquette Park 2.0 plan, park usage has increased dramatically. Dutchtown Main Streets’ Allies of Marquette Park Committee meets frequently to discuss volunteering opportunities in the park and future capital improvements.  

Interested in learning more about Allies of Marquette Park? Email ben@dutchtownstl.org.

Donate to Allies of Marquette Park

Allies of Marquette Park is a committee of Dutchtown Main Streets, Dutchtown’s 501(c)(3) non-profit neighborhood development organization. Donations made to Allies of Marquette Park are allocated for park-specific programming and improvements.

One-Time Donation   Sustaining Donation

You’ll be taken to the DonorBox website in a separate tab or window to complete your donation via credit card or bank transfer (ACH). Your donation may be tax deductible—consult your tax professional. Thank you for your contribution!