Chicago Police District No. 40, also known as the Summerdale District, was designed on a plan by city architect Paul Gerhardt, Jr. (son of the architect of #20). Built in the mid 1930s out of Indiana limestone (and using New Deal funds), this station became notorious in the 1960s for the “Summerdale Scandals”. A group of 8 police officers based in this building conspired with a thief to rob local businesses, acting as lookouts and using police vehicles to cart away loot.

As a result of the scandals, Mayor Richard J. Daley hired a new police commissioner, O.W. Wilson, who restructured the CPD, moving them away from foot patrols and making them less responsive to local politicians and the community. This more “professionalized” mode of radio-dispatched squad-car-based policing required larger police stations with more parking. Summerdale station was retired in 2002, and redevelopment plans (including usage as a black-box theatre) have since fallen through.