the platform that was created by a large landing at the second floor. The WPA was very involved in the creation of the long gone Rock House at the south end of the Park. This Rock House had a small pond area that had goldfish and flower basins. Until the polio epidemic, the water was kept at a substantial depth to support the fish over winter. The flower planters to the north and east of the main entrance off Central at Irving Park Road will give an idea of just what the Rock House looked like. There were seats throughout the half circle structure of flagstone. Except for the overhead wooden canopy, every where you looked there was white flagstone - walls, seats, floor, support pillars. The Chicago Park District has WPA photos of the structure. The park predates all of the buildings that surround it. The swimming events of the Pan-American Games were held here in 1959 in the second pool constructed in the park, as were the US swimming trials for the 1972 Summer Olympics. Other parks The neighborhood of Portage Park has a number of other greenspaces aside from the neighborhood's namesake park: Chopin Park Dickinson Park Dunham Park Grace Zwiefka-Thuis Playlot Park Lucy Gonzales-Parsons Playlot Park Wilson Park Education Portage Park residents are served by Chicago Public Schools, which includes neighborhood and citywide options for students. There are also a number of private parochial schools run by Roman Catholic and Lutheran congregations in the area. Public Elementary Schools Peter A. Reinberg Elementary Chicago Academy Elementary William P. Gray Elementary Portage Park Elementary School Prussing Elementary School Smyser Elementary School Public High Schools Edwin G. Foreman High School Carl Schurz High School Rickover Naval Academy School Private Elementary Schools St. John's Lutheran School Midwestern Christian Academy Our Lady of Victory School (Closed 2016) Pope Francis Global Academy St. Bartholomew School St. Ladislaus (Closed 2015) St. Robert Bellarmine Private High Schools St. Patrick High School Luther North College Prep (Closed after the 2016–17 school year) Politics Portage Park has supported the Democratic Party in the past two presidential elections by large margins. In the 2016 presidential election, Portage Park cast 15,884 votes for Hillary Clinton and cast 5,344 votes for Donald Trump (71.11% to 23.93%). In the 2012 presidential election, Portage Park cast 14,028 votes for Barack Obama and cast 4,989 votes for Mitt Romney (72.34% to 25.73%).