Seneca Park began as the eastern portion of Lake Shore Playground in 1907, but in 1915, an armory was built in the middle of the park, permanently separating Seneca Park from the rest of Lake Shore Playground. That Armory site is now the location of the Museum of Contemporary Art. The Park features "Ben," a bronze horse created by sculptor Debra Butterfield. In October of 1988, the Chicago Park
District designated half of the park as the site of a playground in memory of Eli M. Schulman, a local restaurateur and founder of The Eli’s Cheesecake Company. On May 7, 1990, Governor Thompson, Mayor Daley, and Eli Schulman’s son, Marc, officially dedicated and opened the Eli M. Schulman Playground. On May 18, 2021, 31 years after its original dedication, 2nd Ward Alderman Brian Hopkins and the Park District dedicated a newly reconstructed Eli M. Schulman Playground designed by Site Design with the assistance of Maria Smithburg, who was the original designer of the Park and Playground
