From the late 1960s to the 1990s, the Belmont Rocks served as an informal gathering space for the LGBT community in Chicago.

The Rocks were removed in 2003 and replaced with a concrete retaining wall as part of a shoreline revetment project.

[1] After the site was demolished, plans were made to transform the space into a garden; however, the 2008 financial crisis led to the cancellation of the initial project.

[2][3] Plans for AIDS Garden Chicago were relaunched in 2018, and the park's anchor piece, a 30-foot tall Keith Haring sculpture titled 'Self-Portrait', was installed in late 2019.

[4][5] Although it was originally set to be complete in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic shifted state funding away from the project, and it was delayed for a year.