All park districts shall retain and be vested with all power and authority contained in an act entitled “An Act to enable park commissioners or corporate authorities to take, regulate, control and improve public streets leading to public parks; to pay for the improvement thereof, and in that behalf to make and collect a special assessment or special tax on contiguous property,” approved April 9, 1879, and “An Act to enable park commissioners to condemn land in certain cases for the purpose of making streets selected and taken for boulevards of uniform width and to provide for the payment of the same”, approved June 14, 1887.