South Shore Cultural Center — Attraction in Hyde Park Township

If I could do it over, I wouldn’t host my wedding at the SSCC.

The South Shore Cultural Center is a beautiful, historic building in a prime location on the Lakefront but the facility and surrounding park are not maintained well, nor does the Park District allow weddings to have the type of privacy and protection from the public I would expect.

If you host a wedding here in the summer months and want to host the ceremony outside, beware that the SSCC does not help you claim and maintain the outdoor lawn space in the back of the building. The groom was forced to go to the park that morning to stake it off. Even with the large space we claimed, about 200 park patrons were surrounding it, with tents, bbqs, music and playing children. We had no privacy and it was very distracting to recite my vows in such a chaotic place. People watched the entire ceremony and cheered for us (lol ugh).

We were unaware this would be an issue until just 2-3 months before the wedding and too late to switch venues. We were unaware because we toured the venue in the winter and no one was in the park, of course, so it never occurred to us this could be a problem. But Park District staff also never warned us that we’d have to deal with people outside in the summer. (If you host a winter wedding at the SSCC, the park patrons will not likely be an issue because people don’t usually hang out in the park for long periods when it’s cold.)

A note on the SSCC staff: Nobody that we communicated with appeared to have any understanding on how to make a wedding here successful. There was so much information about hosting a wedding there that was not relayed to us until after booking and we learned most of it because I asked. Planning a wedding for the first time is so stressful and I realized when it was too late that I needed venue staff who were informed, professional and cared, frankly. It would have made all the difference. Part of the problem was that it seems Park District staff turns over quickly. Our event coordinator changed three times in 1.5 years.

The building was also in subpar condition and appeared not ready to host an event. The front revolving door and a toilet stall in the women’s bathroom were out of order. Other toilets did not flush.

The center was also not clean or maintained. There were spiderwebs and bugs on the inside of the building. The paint on the wall of the Solarium ballroom was chipped.

Also, when I toured the SSCC, I was told brides would have access to the music/library room but upon arriving, I was told I needed to have rented it separately. I had no idea and it was a very upsetting moment that put me, the bride, in a stressed mood right before getting married. I needed a place to prepare for the wedding, as well as hide from arriving guests ahead of the ceremony.

Only after my bridesmaids negotiated a deal with the on-site Park District staff did we get access to the room. But when we walked in, the carpet was wet and covered in trash. Spiderwebs and bugs were in the room.

Finally, catering options are limited at Park District venues. The District only allows you to use certain run-of-the-mill catering vendors and they are very expensive.

The only upside to this venue is that the building is still beautiful, particularly the ballrooms. Having the ceremony on the lake, despite strangers just steps away, made our pictures beautiful.

But ultimately, even that doesn’t make hosting your wedding at this venue worth it. The SSCC is a relatively affordable venue, especially compared to privately-owned venues in Chicago, but you end up paying...

I HAD RESERVATIONS FOR TWO WE WHERE ON TIME I KNEW THAT WE WERE THERE TO SUPPORT NASFI A NEW RESTAURANT I ASKED FOR A BOOTH WE WERE TOLD THAT THE BOOTHS WERE FOR THREE OR MORE PEOPLE I JUST SAID OK SO WE WHERE SEATED I ASKED TO SIT ON THE END WE WAITED ABOUT 15MIN BEFORE OUR SERVER A YOUNG LADY NAMED KENNEDY CAME VERY PLEASENT AT FRIST WE ASKED FOR WATER WHICH TOOK A WHILE TO RECEIVE WE LOOKED AT THE MENU AND ORDERED MUCH TRUST ME I HAVE THE PICTURES TO SHOW YOU THE TABLE RIGHT NEXT TO US WAS EMPTY WHEN WE ARRIVED WE THEN ORDERED DRINKS WHICH ALSO TOOK A GOOD WHILE TO RECEIVE ANOTHER YOUNG MAN CAME TO TAKE OUR ORDER AND I INFORMED HIM THAT KENNEDY WAS WAITING ON US HE SAID OK SO FINALLY WE RECEIVE OUR WATER AND DRINKS AND PLACED OUR ORDER WHICH WAS VERY LARGE AND WAS TO MUCH FOR THE LITTLE TABLE SO THE TABLE WITH WAS EMPTY THAT COUPLE RECEIVED THERE FOOD BEFORE WE DID AND MY GUEST ORDERED THE SALMON YET THEY RECEIVED ALL OF THERE FOOD BEFORE WE DID I'M LOOKING AROUND AND AFTER A VERY LONG WAIT I ASKED FOR THE OWNER BECAUSE IN THE REVIEWS IT WAS STATED THAT HE WOULD COME AROUND AND INTERDUCE HIMSELF AND WAS TOLD THAT HE HAD AN EMERGENCY AND HAD TO LEAVE EARLY BY THE MANAGER MARTEL WHO STATED THAT HE HAD ONLY BEEN ON THE JOB FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS AND THAT HE WOULD CHECK TO SEE WHAT WAS HAPPENING WITH OUR FOOD UPON CHECKING MARTEL CAME BACK AND STATED THAT OUR TICKET HAD GOTTEN LOST AND I'M LIKE HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE WHEN EVERYTHING WAS ORDERED AT THE VERY SAME TIME MY GUESS LOOKED AT ME AND WASN'T HAPPY AND NEITHER WAS I BY THIS TIME OUR SERVER KENNEDY WHOLE ATTITUDE HAD CHANGED FOR THE WORSE AND WAS VERY DISRESPECTFUL AND RUDE MARTEL DID HIS BEST TO COMPENSATE OUR TROUBLES OF WHICH I FELT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER WE STATED THAT WE WILL BE VISITING NASFI AGAIN JUST NOT ON A FRIDAY AND AT A DIFFERENT TIME WE AS A PEOPLE JUST HAVE TO DO BETTER AND WE HAD...

It was amazing having our 2024 wedding at such a beautiful and historic location on Chicago’s South Side! This venue is amazing, but there were some issues with the management of our event. It was a bit concerning that we didn’t hear from our event manager until we personally reached out. I only got the direct email after calling the front desk. We didn’t know who our event manager was until mid-July and our wedding was September 1. I used to work at a place where the event managers are there for the client from the moment they book the venue. They check in and make sure they have everything concerning the venue squared away well in advance. If I didn’t reach out in mid-July, I don’t know when we would have been in contact with her. On top of that, I was then told about the required 30-day checklist. So, we had about 2 weeks to make sure we had all the documents the venue required. On the morning of the wedding, the ceremony room was not set up before we arrived for hair and makeup as it was supposed to be. I wouldn’t have known this was an issue but for the security guard who told me to call my event manager right away. After a short while, someone came and started setting up for the wedding. They must have been rushing because it was not the correct number of chairs that we discussed at the walkthrough a few weeks prior. There were several people who didn’t have chairs toward the back of the room, and when our family and friends brought it to the event manager’s attention, she said that the venue staff could no longer move chairs because since some people were already seated it was a liability concern. Thus, our family and friends had to set up the missing chairs themselves. Overall, the event manager we had was a nice lady, but there are organizational changes that...