“AMERICAN PARK SYSTEMS Report of the Philadelphia Allied Organizations ea) eS ¢ an hws) “* ; oot DS a Gitt Publisher 27 MARIO ® Contents Introductions.) ake Boston Kansas City. . New York Staten Island Essex and Hudson Counties, New Jersey, and the Palisades . Chicago . IMG IRS. G5 o G o 6s v0 iPigonptekemiee, Io IG 6 oo oo oO 6 Portland, Seattle, San Francisco and Manila New Orleans’ 3.6). Ottawa, Canada . Baltimore) coos ees 2 Hlarnisbures 9 2.5 < Wiremipiiseewsiacmci citer on. ene Omaha, Toledo and Louisville . Cleveland... . St. Louis . St. Paul and Minneapolis . lnlenordal, (Corotarrorets 5 6 5 a 5 0 = Buffalo . 1 odgttepittests, Pee beens Wesiinatom, IDS (Gs 5 5 so 5 4 5 L’Envoi Appendix Description of St. Paul Group Plan, by Cass Gilbert The Situation in Baltimore, by Sherlock Swann PAGE Inquiries concerning the Philadelphia movement may be addressed to Andiew Wright Crawford, Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Allied Organizations of Philadelphia, 7or Stephen Girard Building, Philadelphia, Pa. 2 American Park Systems REPORT OF THE ORGANIZATIONS ALLIED FOR THE ACQUISITION OF A COMPREHENSIVE PARK SYSTEM FOR PHILADELPHIA, ON THE EXISTING AND PROPOSED SYSTEMS OF OTHER AMERICAN CITIES ACTS not fancies, works not wishes, mark the successful national kK movement for the preservation of places of natural beauty for the use of the public and the substitution of city squares and playgrounds for spots of wretched squalor and ugliness. This move- ment, which has secured marked headway in the last few years, has pro- duced notable results. Park systems in some cities are almost complete, in others they are half finished. In yet others, like our own, where parks however fine in themselves are inadequate for the needs of a city that has far outgrown them, the work of adding well-chosen areas and of connecting the scattered parks into a system has just begun. Believing that Philadelphia has opportunities that are second to none in this direction, and that knowledge of what others are doing may be helpful in the realization of the plans that have been made for adding to the attractiveness of all sections of Philadelphia, the allied organiza- tions publish herewith a number of maps which show the existing and proposed park systems and plans for the grouping of important build- ings in several American cities. In each of these maps the ground now in public ownership is shown in green, that which it is proposed to secure, in brown. As the maps are not all made to the same scale, reference to the scale of each is advisable. While the mere fact that other cities are acquiring such systems may not prove that Philadelphia should do so, it remains true that the reasons that impelled such action apply with equal force to this city. 3 Boston First place must be given to the most comprehensive, complete and admirable of American park systems, that of Boston. “Ten years ago but two-fifths of the pres- ent area had been acquired; for the combination of parks in and near Boston into a system and the addition of vast areas have been effected since 1893. Within the circuit of the Boston Metropolitan Park System are thirty-nine municipalities. Each bore its part of the cost in proportion to its resources and benefits, a proportion determined by a special commission. To secure an adequate system for Philadelphia, it will be necessary to obtain parks in Montgomery and Delaware counties. In other words, instead of the cooperation of thirty-nine polit- ical entities, the park movement in Philadelphia will require that of but three. Within eleven miles of the Boston State House there are over 15,000 acres of park land and twenty-five miles of parkways. Within eleven miles of Boston State House there are 1,200,000 people, or 200,000 /ess than the population of Philadel- phia. In Philadelphia we have about 4,060 acres of park land and about one mile of parkway. The Metropolitan Park Commission alone has expended in ten years over eleven millions of dollars, three-fifths of which was for the cost of land. The Massachusetts Legislature of 1903 appropriated to the Commission a further sum of $3,000,000. It will be noticed, by reference to the map, that Boston’s system has not yet been entirely completed. Most of the proposed additions are in outlying sections which are not immediately threatened by building operations. Of the two most notable proposals yet to be accomplished, one has already been provided for by an appropriation to the Park Commission of Boston. This is the extension of the Charles River Reservation along the southern bank of the river to the Charlesbank Playground,—an operation which in many features should be duplicated by the exten- sion of Fairmount Park along both sides of the Schuylkill southwardly to Bartram’s Garden, as will be further considered in a later report. The other great improvement bears some analogy to the Fairmount Park Park- way. This Boston improvement is the proposed main connection between the northern and southern portions of the system, directly across Cambridge and Somer- ville to the Harvard ‘bridge. It will require the destruction of buildings throughout. It will be observed that Boston’s largest park, the Blue Hills Reservation, lies about eleven miles from the State House. This is a mile and a half farther than the proposed parks along the Pennypack Creek and along Mill Creek are from our City Hall. The Blue Hills Reservation covers 4,857 acres, half again as much land as Fairmount Park covers. Boston has not only the finest park system in America, but is the leader in the moyement for municipal playgrounds, by which is meant open spaces fitted up with outdoor gymnasia, running-tracks and children’s sand-courts. They are not con- nected with schools, and are open to any child or adult. In Boston, under the 4 re < METROPOLITAN DISTRICT a BOSTON Pe snowima EXISTING - PARKLANDS: sce Within eleven miles of the State House at Boston, an area occupied by two hundred thousand people /ess than the population of Philadelphia, there are twenty-five miles of parkways connecting parks covering 15,175 acres. Philadelphia’s park area is 4,062 acres; but it has begun, though only begun, to improve this showing. Its opportunities are unequaled. In all the maps, light green shows existing, and brown proposed, parks or parkways. control of the Department of Parks, there are fifteen playgrounds, the location of which is such that every child is within a half mile of one of them, while one of the larger athletic fields is within a mile of every child. It will thus be seen that Boston has not been blinded to the advantage of these smaller spaces by the more remarkable idea of its outer park system. Kansas City Boston’s example is exerting the influence it deserves, but Kansas City’s system, begun in the same year, is but little known. In 1go1 it was nearly finished and since then some extensions have been made. It will be noticed that the map does not show any proposed additions, all the parks being completely connected into a system. Swope Park, the largest reservation, lies outside of the city bounda- ries; a parkway reaches it, the part outside of the city limits having been con- structed at the expense of Jackson county. Kansas City now owns ten and one-half miles of completed boulevards, and land has been secured for about sixteen miles more. The total acreage is over 2,000, secured within ten years, while Philadelphia was resting on its laurels, unconscious that other cities were pushing it farther and farther from the lead in park area. Kansas City likewise is constructing public playgrounds, of which the Parade is the central one. It is equipped with all necessary apparatus for athletic sports and outdoor games.” ‘For further information, apply to John Woodbury, Secretary of the Metropolitan Park Commission, 14 Beacon Street, Boston, Mass. * For further information, apply to George E. Kessler, Landscape Architect, 523 Frisco Building, St. Louis, Mo. 6 SHOWING EXISTING PARK LANDS MAP OF |KANSAS CITY 00 Du OC IONOOOOUIOL === — = ==S eet 1895 Q00COL__ iniua The largest park is not shown. Nearly all of this admirably central system of boulevards and parks has been acquired since 1893. New York Five years before Boston and Kansas City commenced their park systems, New York secured three large parks in the Borough of the Bronx, and connected them by splendid parkways. Van Cortlandt Park is connected with Bronx Park by the Mosholu Parkway, 600 feet in width and over a mile in length. From Bronx Park a parkway 400 feet wide and two and a quarter miles in length, leads to the Pelham Bay Park, 1,756 acres in extent. It is proposed to continue the Grand Boulevard and Concourse southward, to connect it with Fifth -Avenue, thus completing the connection of the Bronx Parks with Central Park and the heart of the city at Fifty- ninth Street and Fifth Avenue. At the foot of Manhattan Island a number of small parks have been acquired within a decade at an expenditure of many millions of dollars. The land for three of them, covering ten acres, cost $5,237,363. Central Park, which covers 840 acres, cost for the land alone $5,028,844. It was acquired from 1853 to 1863. In other words, by New York’s delay in securing sites for small parks and playgrounds it has been obliged to pay’ more for these three small parks than it did for the whole of Central Park. The advantage of securing outlying parks in time, thus strikingly illustrated in New York, is now well shown in Philadelphia. It is probable that the proposed Pennypack Park from crest to crest, through a length of six miles with an area of a thousand acres, can be secured for about $500,000. A triangle of ground two and three-fourths acres in extent, at the entrance to Fairmount Park, covered with houses instead of trees, has recently been condemned by the city for park purposes, at a cost of $400,000. New Yorkers, spurred on by the city’s want of breathing spaces, its great congestion of travel and its ugliness, and inspirited by the success that the outer- park movement is obtaining throughout the country, recently secured the appoint- ment of an official body called the New York City Improvement Commission. That Commission has just rendered a preliminary report, urging the acquisition of a large part of the water-front along the Hudson River and East River, the exten- sion of Fifth Avenue to the Grand Boulevard and Concourse already mentioned, and the acquisition of park areas in Staten Island and in Brooklyn. The report was published after the plates of the map of New York’s existing system, which is printed herewith, had been made. A notable recommendations follows: ‘‘ Although, as above said, the expenditures necessarily required by any proper plan must be large, they could in many instances be greatly reduced, if the City had the power exercised in many European cities of condemning more than the area actually required, so that the City might reap the benefit to be derived from the enhanced value of neighboring property; and, in the judgment of the Commission, steps should be taken to secure such changes in the constitution and legislative enactments as may be necessary for the purpose. This method of taking more land than required, with the object, by resale at an advance, of recouping part of the expense, has been applied in various large cities of Great Britain and 8 MAP OF THE CITY or NEW YORK SHOWING = = 4 mm a A = x S = = 2 = a < = s = at A num. Since this map was prepared, an important report of the New York City Improvement Commission has been published, ber of connections and new parks are proposed, The Mosholu parkway, and the Bronx and Pelham parkway already acquired, are 600 and goo feet wide respectively, being really elongated parks, the continent where extensive alterations have been undertaken for securing architectural effects, remedying sanitary conditions or improving the city generally, and it is questionable whether many of the improvements would have been otherwise accomplished. Objections to giving the City such power have sometimes been raised, on the ground that it might be abused or injudiciously exercised. In these times, however, of increasing municipal activi- ties, when so many more extensive powers are constantly being entrusted to those charged with the administration of the City’s affairs, such objection can scarcely be considered necessarily fatal or conclusive, if proper safeguards and limitations are imposed.” This necessity is becoming more clearly recognized throughout the United States. If Philadelphia had the authority to condemn land on both sides of the Fairmount Park Parkway, while the initial expenditure would, of course, be larger, in the long run it is altogether likely that the City would be able to recoup itself the entire expense. In other words, Philadelphia’s taxpayers will pay from eight to ten million dollars, because the City has not this authority. Further, if it had the authority, the City, having secured title to these properties, could sell the land with building restrictions, thus insuring a more beautiful approach to our great park.? Staten Island Two years ago, the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce, a business organiza- tion, be it noted, determined that, as that Island is likely to be a residential section, no time should be lost in securing a complete system of parks, playgrounds and parkways. It accordingly appointed a Committee, which on December 19, 1902, presented a report recommending the acquisition of more than 3,500 acres of parks and 200 acres of playgrounds. The report contains a comparison of the per capita park acreage of the leading cities of this country. When we find such a compari- son in official reports made by other cities, it would seem time for us to take vig- orous measures to improve Philadelphia’s showing.” This is the table: Washington, D. C.. . .1 acre of park lands for every 78 persons Essex county (Newark, N.J.). . . .1 acre for every 100 ‘3 Spin, Thea RS) G5 oc 6 gop oo e oll it 128 7 Mintieapolis'p-5. 3 Gatcine Green ee ae a Ae 140 om Stbanlh.. ssi 3- cos oe eon ae 3 141 re Indianapolis’s.. = 7S a-) cp sel toes ee een ee or jeg Jkouisyille: |... =., <2: an gua wo 1 eee eae Sy 163 IBOStON AE aa 5 os Ger eed as torn ae 3 PGXOye IDERROLty ot Aiteir ot nt a oe ace ns 233 7 Semlfours pe tau sc. Sis ose sey ee 272 o Glevelande nets) enna ce cy een Se a ae 27 os Philadelphia: .\ oe Socom. 4. cr och een ee - AKO 1 For further information, apply to Secretary New York City Improvement Commission, New York City, N. Y. or Milo Roy Maltbie, Assistant Secretary Art Commission, City Hall, New York. 2For further information, apply to Cornelius G. Kolff, Staten Island Chamber of Commerce, Staten Island, N. Y. 10 MAP OF STATEN ISLAND SHOWING PROPOSED PARK SYSTEM. A business organization, the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce, foreseeing that the Island will be residential, proposes to secure one-tenth of it for recreation purposes II Essex and Hudson Counties, New Jersey and the Palisades Within a few minutes’ railroad ride of Wall street is the most remarkable county park system that has yet been acquired in the United States. Nearly all the citi- zens of Newark and the Oranges, which are located in Essex county, are New York business men, and therefore the park system that is about to be described is, in fact, a portion of the park areas reserved for New Yorkers. In 1894 there were in Essex county but twenty-six acres of park land and no parkways. A commission was then appointed, and by means of five loans, a million dollars at a time, the commission has acquired 3,500 acres of park lands and three miles of parkways. The parkways are described as ‘but the beginnings of an extensive system of con- necting parkways.”’ In the neighboring Hudson county, in which Jersey City is located, a Park Commission has recently been appointed but has not yet published its first report. The Commissioners, however, state that their system will connect with the Pali- sades Interstate Park. This park is being secured by the joint action of the states of New Jersey and New York. It will preserve eleven miles of the shore frontage of the Hudson where the famous Palisades are located. About six miles have already been purchased. It will thus be seen that citizens of New York, whether they live on Man- hattan Island or in the Bronx, on Staten Island or in Brooklyn, or in Essex or Hudson counties, New Jersey, are securing park systems that are gradually becoming con- nected throughout. “They have not been deterred by the difficulties in their way, such as the enormous expense of land in New York, the difficulty of securing the appointment of an official commission by Greater New York, the difficulty of secur- ing State action, as in the case of New Jersey, or the greater difficulty of securing interstate action, as in the case of the Palisades Park. It is curious that people in many cities,—for Philadelphia is by no means alone in this regard,—believe that the difficulties that confront them are greater than those that confronted their sister cities. Sometimes these difficulties are exaggerated by officials in order to excuse delay in finding a way of overcoming them. In many ways, including the financial, Philadelphia has a much easier task than other cities. For further information regarding the Essex County Park System, apply to Alonzo Church, Secretary Essex County Park Commission, 800 Broad Street, Newark, N. J. Regarding Hudson County Park, apply to Walter G. Muirheid, Secretary Hudson County Park Commission, No. 1 Exchange Place, Jersey City, N. J. Regarding the Palisades Interstate Park, apply to J. DuPratt White, Secretary Palisades Interstate Park Commission, 31 Nassau Street, New York City. 12 vonaury ut wajsXkg yieg AjUNOD ueqingns ysOulaI0} ay} SI ‘sasoe OOS‘£ 0} H6gr UT satoe gz WOIy UMOIS sey Yor ‘wWajskg yeq unoy xassq IY], SONV19UVd GaSOdOUd INV ONILSIXA ONIMOHS f'NALNNOO XdSs4a Eye) NOILYOd V 40 dvWW NOILWAS3S34 SIHVND3IaM Chicago ‘In 1869 Chicago began building a system of parks connected by boulevards. In 1880 it had two thousand acres. Twenty-three years later these parks were inadequate to the population, and to meet the obvious need Chicago entered upon a scheme of park extension.” In 1903, the Commissioners were authorized to spend $6,500,000 for new parks. This has gone for parks varying from five to three hundred acres in extent, mostly in or near centers of dense population. The average cost of construction is $90,000, of maintenance $20,000, per annum. This is because they contain out- door gymnasia, swimming-pools, etc. Grant Park, the old Lake Front of the heart of the city, has been increased in area fivefold; Lincoln Park greatly extended; Jack- son Park, where the Exposition was held, has been rehabilitated. Chicago now has eighty-four parks, aggregating 3,169 acres, connected by forty-nine miles of boulevard. Not content with these improvements, Chicago has appointed a commission to prepare plans for a comprehensive outer park system. Its report just presented shows that Chicago has much land naturally suitable for parks not many miles from it. The map indicates the proposed takings, though it gives but a poor idea of their extent. To the north, where the shore of Lake Michigan rises into bluffs with wooded ravines between them, is shown a park of 7,000 acres; in the west, another of 8,800 acres. The valley of the Desplaines River, skirted by woods and meadows, will afford a park drive of twenty-five miles in length. In the southwest the noble forests of the Palos region will give a park larger even than Blue Hills, near Boston, and toward the south a preserve about Lake Calumet will afford a recreation space for the toilers of South Chicago and Pullman. In all, eighty-four new parks are proposed, aggregating 37,000 acres, extending twenty-five miles into the country, and to be acquired at a probable cost of $25,000,000. All this has its suggestion for Philadelphia. Chicago foresees that its present system, inadequate for a city of 2,000,000 people, must be greatly augmented in the near future if conditions are to be at all tolerable for the 8,000,000 people who will probably live within its metropolitan area fifty years hence. For further information, apply to J. F. Foster, General Superintendent South Park Commis- sioners, 57th Street and Cottage Grove avenue, Chicago, III.; Dwight Heald Perkins, Architect, 1200 Steinway Hall, Chicago, IIl. 14 5) MAP OF \ CHICAGO SHOWING PROPOSED % EXISTING PARKLANDS SCALE y, 2 3 MILES i ] - r \ 4 rue — al = e j jeu | aS a z a = 4—l . \ 3 B } ; BELMONT. AVE _ Zz |e > i" | [ Hal Ne x ! fe Aa hel Ue x z | z o. \e i) | paje> > % | CHICAGO ST q Sls _ Is 2 4 — a an t MADISON st JE |L Fe 2 a = S | > | (2TH | ST. | ; = | 22ND. Ee 2 | J fi 2 Baal ~ lay T | 3IST, Sic ' d eS \ (e 39TH! ST. L es W a ) a7TH ST. Oo = S== I PF oe, y 55TH ST. ii eet S a a a s&s | VA 63 RO| ST p= (35, | =A MARQUETTE| o | \ | y | 23 sv. || a S|) + IR K i La) I ! Z f Z PAR | | 87TH) ST oa | ve | | 95TH ST Z| 103 RO) ST V4 ) — r =| PC ‘ome Chicago’s recently appointed Park Commission urges a system cov ering 40,000 acres, and the preservation of nearly the entire water-front of the city. The commission urges the necessity of looking ahead and securing parks now for Chicago’s population a few decades hence. Only a few of the existing streets are shown, as the map is on a comparatively small scale. The existing city is indicated in a general way by the surrounding boulevards shown in green. Milwaukee The existing and proposed park system of Milwaukee is less interesting than many of the others, because it follows the lines, always unfortunate, of the gridiron system of streets. It will be observed that but a small portion of the connecting links has been constructed. One interesting feature, however, and one that is a significant result of the park movement, is the proposal to connect existing parks along the lake-front with the large Lake Park at the north, thus bringing it into intimate connection with the city’s heart. This appreciation of water-fronts is becoming more notable with every new report on existing or proposed park systems. In the case of small streams, the usual plan is to preserve the valley from hill-crest to hill-crest. In the case of the larger rivers, flowing through what will ultimately be the centers of cities, the adoption of the treatment by European cities of their water-fronts is being more and more strongly recommended. For further information, apply to Frank P. Schumacher, Secretary Park Commissioners, City Hall, Milwaukee, Wis. 16 O0 OND nooooono00y Ti HON we RK re Z aa een ||| es | |e | 4 ICSI oboow (=| |5/5| Sesq57 owOoooo moo OO [as} Sees SSeaai= MAP OF MILWAUKEE. SHOWING EXISTING AND PROPOSED PARK SYSTEM. ol CID Cs2CR BRIO! ooooCIoCoeo0e8ooodss ooo0000TM0000000' eteststa LMS Consors All cities are looking to their water-fronts. Milwaukee’s unfortunate adoption of Phil- adelphia’s street system is responsible for the uninteresting character of the proposed park connections. Providence, R. I. Providence, Rhode Island, is a notable proof of this appreciation of the water- ways. The lines of the existing and proposed parks and parkways are largely determined by the streams. The conditions that confronted the Public Park Association of Providence in the number of corporate entities to be dealt with were similar to those that confronted the makers of the Boston system. Provi- dence has solved the difficulty in the same way by the appointment of a Metro- politan Park Commission. This appointment was made only in the early part of November, 1904. It is thought that the Commission will publish its report at about the time that this report on the Park Systems of American Cities appears. The existing areas of the Metropolitan Park district around Providence are somewhat less than 1,400 acres. The Blackstone Boulevard is 9,300 feet in length and 200 feet in width. Elmwood Avenue is parked by means of grass plots for about two miles, as our own Girard Avenue ought to be. The shores of Scott’s Pond are maintained as a public park by its owner, a manufacturing corporation, in the belief that the enjoyment of them adds to the efficiency of labor of the neighboring employees. A general idea of the extent of the proposed additions can be gained by com- paring the brown on the map with the green. A greater area than there appears will, however, be secured for public uses, because of the admirable use of water. Not including these surfaces, the proposed Metropolitan Park System would add about a thousand acres. Mr. Henry A. Barker, Secretary of the Providence Park Association, states: _ “Tt is expected that a large part of it will be given by owners for the purpose of adding to the value of their own adjacent lands. As the features of irregular contour which give these places special value for public reservations have retarded building opera- tions and the laying out of streets in the past, it is thought that a sum between two and three millions will amply suffice for acquiring such land as needs to be purchased. The length of connecting driveways necessary to make the ‘inner circuit’ will be about eighteen miles. The ‘Pawtucket’ and ‘ Pawtuxet’ parkways add eighteen more.”’ For further information, apply to Henry A. Barker, Secretary of the Metropolitan Park Com- mission, 32 Custom House Street, Providence, R. I. 18 MAP OF THE if METROPOLITAN DISTRIC OF PROVIDENCE SHOWING PROPOSED SYSTEMS OF \\ PARKS,BOULEVARDS AND PUBLIC RESERVATIONS. \ A Rhode Island Metropolitan Park Commission was created by Act of the Legislature last November. The preliminary report contains the above system, proposed by the Provi- dence Park Association. The appreciation of parkways along creeks as well as rivers is evident. Portland, Seattle, San Francisco and Manila Turning from Providence in the East to the Pacific Slope, we publish here- with the proposed outer park system of Portland, Oregon. It shows a clear under- standing that provision must now be made for the needs of coming generations. At the same time that this admirable system was prepared, the City of Seattle, Wash- ington, employed the same landscape architects to suggest a similar system. Under the lead of a business organization, the Merchants’ Association of San Francisco, four millions of dollars out of a total loan of eighteen millions were recently voted by the people of San Francisco, for the purpose of beautifying that city by means of parks, parkways and public buildings, the sum being about evenly divided between them. San Francisco has less than one-third of Philadelphia’s population, so that a loan of $12,000,000 would but add to Philadelphia’s attrac- tiveness proportionately as much as San Francisco’s recent loan will improve that city. Ex-Mayor Phelan, in a recent letter to the New York “‘Tribune,’’ states that the Golden Gate Park and the Presidio, a United States reservation, are to be con- nected by a park drive a block wide, for the distance which separates them, which is nearly a mile. He adds: “Tt is proposed to purchase in different parts of the city two large playgrounds for children, and, in that part of the city known as the Mission, to acquire two blocks for a local park. All this work may be said to be under way, inasmuch as the bonds are authorized and will be sold as the funds are needed, and condemnation suits have been ordered by the city fathers. “This initial work has been done without any definite plan. But what has been pro- posed is not inconsistent with a plan which is now being made by Daniel H. Burnham. * * * * He has twice visited San Francisco recently, and is now in Manila, execu- ting a commission for the Government for the improvement of that city. He is expected in San Francisco on February 25, and will have his report ready, as promised, before June 1. ““A society of citizens, known as the Association for the Improvement and Adornment of San Francisco, invited Mr. Burnham to make a plan, and he volunteered his services, the Association to bear the expense of draftsmen and other accessories. It is the intention of this Association to present the plan to the Board of Supervisors, or City Council, which is much interested in the work, and will, no doubt, be governed by Mr. Burnham’s sugges- tions as far as they are practicable.” For further information regarding Portland and Seattle, apply to the Olmsted Brothers, Land- scape Architects, Brookline, Mass. For San Francisco and Manila, to Daniel H. Burnham, 1417 Railway Exchange Bld’g, Jack- son and Michigan Boulevards, Chicago, III. For San Francisco, L. M. King, Secretary Merchants’ Association of San Francisco, Mills Building, 7th floor, San Francisco, Cal. 20 PORTLAND smo is EXISTING AND PROPOSED PARK LANDS: 3cace Nn Se a ag The park movement is a national one. The Pacific slope is joining in it with character- istic enthusiasm. Seattle and San Francisco are abreast of Portland. The last report of Portland’s Park Commission urges the acquisition of this system. 21 New Orleans Turning from the West to the South, we find New Orleans, although staggering under a load of debt caused by the war and the carpetbaggers’ régime, accomplishing through noble endeavor a movement toward the City Beautiful. An extract from a_ letter from Mr. William Woodward will give the spirit and the facts of this southern city’s energy. ““T am proud that we have fallen into line of improvement at last. Of first importance is the rapid advancement of the work on the drainage, sewage and improved water-supply systems, for which some fifteen millions are already provided. The Legislature has recently authorized a bond issue of two millions to improve the wharves. The Central Commission of Parks and Avenues has begun active work and has secured the passage by the City Council of an ordinance dedicating a parkway, connecting the two principal parks, Audubon Park and City Park, following what is roughly the string across the bow of the crescent formed by the city along the curving bank of the Mississippi River. This wide parkway will furnish splendid sites for public institutions.” Mr. Woodward’s last sentence is not intended to apply to the Fairmount Park Parkway, but it does so accurately. Mr. Allison Owen writes: ““The Park avenues and squares are cared for out of public funds given to individual commissions composed of from five to twenty-five citizens, who receive money from the public treasury and expend it as they see fit, making periodical reports. A little over a year ago the writer suggested the advisability of forming a central body, composed of two delegates from each of these various park and avenue commissions; the Central Commission was the result. Through it several other commissions have been formed. The whole subject of munici- pal improvements is a very difficult one in New Orleans, on account of the very small amount of money that it is possible to secure from the public treasury with which to do the work. Many of our best avenues are maintained entirely with funds privately subscribed by public-spirited citizens. The present generation has fallen heir to an enormous city debt which was started during the opulent period preceding the Civil War and very largely increased by the carpet- bag administration during reconstruction days. One-half of our present total revenue annually goes against this debt. "The growth of the city during the last four or five years promises such an increase in population and taxable values that we are sanguine enough to believe that means will be found to extend and complete our present system; also to undertake very large and comprehensive improvements in the way of drives, parkways, playgrounds, etc., through the district which is at present unoccupied north of the city, if necessary throwing aside the severity of the gridiron street plan which some former city engineer has put on paper, but which up to the present has no other existence.’’ For further information, apply to William Woodward, Tulane University, or Allison Owen, Central Commission of Parks and Avenues, New Orleans, La. pa?) jsasajur jensnun Asaa jo wiaysks jaaqjs YW “JB AA [LAID 24} Sutinp pue aiojaq payeaio yqap ay3 uo ysasajur Aed 0} sa0d Ay19 ay} JO anuaaas yenuue ay} J[ey-auQ “UeNdrosqns ayeatsd yBnoiyy Ajassel ‘paureyurew Ajqou waysks ysed y “SCUVAdTNO” UNV SMuVd GHSOd0Ud GNV ONILSIXA SNIMOHS rss" SNVdATHO MAN JO dVW Ottawa, Canada Turning to the North, we find that the movement for park systems and the gen- eral beautification of cities is international. “The Government of the Dominion of Canada appointed a commission to prepare a plan for the improvement of its capital city. There are few, if any, inland cities in the world that compare with Ottawa in the extent and picturesque character of the rivers and streams within her boundaries. While a small portion of their shores had already been secured, it was obvious that the public ownership of them should be greatly extended. Chief Webster, of the Bureau of Surveys of Philadelphia, in advocating increased park facilities, has carefully estimated that by 1950 Philadelphia will have a population of 3,500,000 people. In the same spirit Mr. Frederick G. Todd, the Landscape Architect of the Commission on the Improvement of Ottawa, said in his Report : “Tt does not require an unreasonable amount of faith to believe that the Ottawa of today is but the infant Ottawa of fifty years hence, and that the end of the present century will see Ottawa grown to such proportions that we of today would hardly recognize it. You may ask, is it reasonable to look so far ahead as one hundred years or more, and to. make plans for generations in the distant future? We have only to study the history of the older cities, and note at what enormous cost they have overcome the lack of provision for their growth, to realize that the future prosperity and beauty of the city depends in a great measure upon the ability to look ahead, and the power to grasp the needs and requirements of the ” great population it is destined to have. For further information, apply to Frederick G. Todd, Esq., Landscape Architect, Renouf Building, Montreal, P. Q. 24 MAP OF THE CITY OF OTTAWA | SHOWING EXISTING AND PROROSED | PARK SYSTEM. SCALE. | L = ILE. 2 3 pee wa % Ottawa and Montreal are giving examples to Canadian cities in taking advantage of their natural resources. The water-front of Ottawa is striking N Loy Baltimore Unstunned by the conflagration, the Municipal Art Society of Baltimore has recently issued a very valuable report upon the parks of Greater Baltimore, which it had prepared to publish before the fire. The map herewith reproduced shows that portion of the proposed system in the immediate vicinity of the city. Refer- ence to it will show how completely this city will be surrounded by parkways, con- necting the four existing large parks located at the four corners of the city. The proposals to accept the opportunities offered by the creek called Jones’ Falls,— famous as the natural barrier which limited the ravages of the fire,—by the Back Bay River and Herring Run, by the Patapsco River and Gwynn’s Falls and Gun- powder Falls Creeks, suggest the like opportunities furnished by Philadelphia in the exceptionally beautiful valleys of the Pennypack Creek and Mill Creek, Cobb’s Creek and Tacony Creek. In publishing its Report, the Municipal Art Soctety of Baltimore obtained the cooperation of a number of other Baltimore organizations and guaranteed the cost of the Report, hoping that in recognition of its value the City would assume the contract. The hope was well founded, and the City appropriated $3,500 to pay the printers and the landscape experts, an example which the Allied Organizations of Philadelphia can- not but hope will be followed by a city which is more than three times the size of Bal- timore and which has not suffered a great conflagration. Baltimore now has 1,447 acres of park land. The proposed addition to Balti- more’s existing parks would give twenty-four small parks, covering altogether 204 acres; additions to existing parks of about 320 acres; and valley parks and radial parkways with cross connections varying in width from 200 feet to a quarter of a mile, the total length being about fifty-six miles. In addition, great public reserva- tions are proposed, one of which would cover about 2,560 acres of water area and 2,400 acres of land area; another, about 800 acres of each kind of area; a third, 1,100 acres of land area and 180 acres of water area. Reservations that are even greater in extent are scarcely more than suggested in the Report, because of the pressing importance of other recommendations made therein. ‘These outlying reser- vations cover sixty-one and three-quarter square miles. The estimated cost of securing the land for this system is $3,000,000. A loan of $1,000,000 was voted upon affirmatively in April, to begin the system. A lucid idea of the conditions of public improvements in Baltimore subsequent to the fire may be had from the striking letter of William Sherlock Swan, printed in the appendix. For further information, apply to Theodore Marburg, 14 Mt. Vernon Place, Baltimore; or, to Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., Landscape Architect, Brookline, Mass. 26 MAP OF THE CITY OF BALTIMORE BALTIMORE COUNTY, MD. OWI! EXISTING AND PROPOSED PARK LANDS Baltimore, undismayed by the fire, is going ahead with the acquisition of this system. A loan of one million dollars, which will secure about one-third of the land, was voted upon affirmatively in April of this year (1905). 2) Harrisburg Harrisburg, the Capital of our State, has secured the lead of Philadelphia, a lead that as Capital it ought to have, but a lead that Philadelphia, as the most impor- tant city of the State, ought to have held. A number of public-spirited citizens secured a report on a park system for that city, a map of which is herewith repro- duced. A campaign was fought recently upon the question whether or not that plan should be adopted in principle, and the candidate who stood upon its adoption secured the mayoralty. It will be observed that a very important part of the recom- mendation is the preservation of the banks of the Susquehanna. This does not involve quite the same difficulty that the redemption of our own water-front along the Schuylkill involves, because it is not necessary to roof over railroads in order to shut them out of sight; but the same idea should undoubtedly be adopted for the Schuylkill as has been adopted and already partly carried out for the Susquehanna. We are glad to note the agitation for the extension of the Capitol Park toward the railroad. It should be extended all the way, and a monumental station erected, with government buildings on each side of the park. A similar proposal is now being carried out in Cleveland. This is not a matter that concerns Harrisburg so much as the Keystone State. For further information, apply to J. Horace McFarland, Harrisburg; or, to Warren H. Man- ning, Landscape Architect, 1101 Tremont Building, Boston, Mass. 28 “9381S 9Y3 Jo [eyded ay} 0} aoueUAa aAIssarduit UL aAIB P[NOM sly TJ, “pus UJajsea sii Je UONeIg peolieY uorUs) B YIAA yr punose padnois ssuipjing o1qnd ainjny puke apeu aq pnoys uorsuazxa SIT, “UMOIG aq P[Noys I] “sayeM-ajyejd ayy jo aysiu ve Ysnosy} Used uMoYs st [oydeD ajeIg ayy jo ysea yOo]q aYT—"q{-N vruea[Asuuag jo jeyided ay} jo wajshs pasodoid pue Suysixa ayy, PNNVAZNOEAS FSQCH 400d oobr eee eee) omer @I™TWIS SUNVI HUVa CIb0A0dA ANY ONLL SLX INIMOHS WNAd- DANE MAAVAL #0 ALIDTHL AO AVUL Memphis Memphis was one of the first cities of the Middle West to acquire a chain of parks. It will be observed that its system is already fairly complete. The use of the water-front is not considerable, but the Mississippi River is its only water-front, in sharp distinction from Philadelphia. This city is exceptionally fortunate in its two river-fronts. The Delaware is amply able to take care of the larger traffic, leaving the Schuylkill for such trafic as the Seine takes at Paris,—coal-barges, river-transit systems, etc. Such trafic will not at all interfere with making the Schuylkill a water parkway, occupying the very heart of our city. For further information, apply to George E. Kessler, Landscape Architect, 523 Frisco Building, St. Louis, Mo. 30 wv, ff QO MAP OF MEMPHIS SHOWING EXISTING PARK LANDS. a N JO ic OU [ca [es | [cS USS SES\ Css (Ae Se] ACIOOoooon aise cf ooooO0000 we —) UU aS GS vu SS = a ee yee x Memphis, with but one water-front, makes little use of it for park purposes. With the Dela- ware entirely competent to take the business water traffic, Philadelphia has a rare opportunity to make the Schuylkill a park river throughout the city. ar Omaha, Toledo and Louisville The bad influence of a system of streets prepared for a comparatively small city and indefinitely extended is shown in Philadelphia, where William Penn’s plan of straight streets and rectangular blocks, unrelieved by diagonal or curving streets, has been ruthlessly extended beyond the limits for which Penn intended it. But Phila- delphia’s example to other cities has been as bad for them as for herself. Omaha illustrates the force of this; yet the park system, already secured, tends to break up the appearance of monotonous regularity of the city map. This system has been acquired within the last few years. It is proposed to secure other parks in outlying sections. [he southern portion of the city is already fairly surrounded by the most interesting portion of the park system. Fifteen miles of parkways have been con- structed, varying from 150 to 200 feet in width. Another parkway ten miles in length is officially proposed. Toledo is also in the movement for connecting its parks by parkways. The approximate length of its parkways will be twelve miles, their width varying from 150 to 250 feet. Less use of the water-front is made than appears desirable. Louisville, Ky., is one of the cities that is at the beginning of the acquisition of a park system, although an approach to its main country park, and a return drive have already been secured. Connections with the water-front parks have been suggested.. A great deal has been done in Louisville in the direction of children’s playgrounds, and the reports are valuable, distinctly. Cities that secure outer parks grow into regions that are well supplied with breathing spaces. Their death rate in the future will be less than their present death rate. For further information regarding Omaha, apply to C. D. C. Jewett, Secretary of the Park Commission, Omaha, Neb. For further information regarding the Outer Park System of Louisville, apply to Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., Landscape Architect, Brookline, Mass.; for Playgrounds, to the Secretary of the Louisville Recreation League, Louisville, Ky. Regarding Memphis, to George E. Kessler, 523 Frisco Building, St. Louis, Mo. WwW NN SHOWING EXISTING PARK SYSTEM) cCa000m00 Mooomo00 JIOOL Hooooooo,. | Ooooodboogoo0o000 CHa0000000000000 Caoo0000000000n0 Oooo00g MOomooo [ao fea (es joa ie(sl Cyatoj oo Oooo00000000000u8 il) ee lo] a O00 QUOUQU4 IFAVvabc bo 00) ANNI OO0EO S— FONTENELLE The park system makes an interesting variation in the otherwise monotonous system of streets paidope aray st—skemyied Aq payoauuos sysed—uiayshs ev jo vapt ayy, ‘asn ur aie sXemyied asayy Jo sajrur aAry N par aa SONVT Hevea ONTLEIXT DNIMONS OdATOL 7 ALTO wuvd wayL10 ISS SS paeSee/> SSa509 ey. f—S BO | __ auvasin08 Va JaWNVK : MAP OF LOUISVILLE ,KY. SHOWING EXISTING AND PROPOSED PARK SYSTEM. i : SCALE. j wo ——— = \ IROQUOIS PARK Louisville’s public playgrounds are famous. Its park connections are not yet complete 35 We now come to a group of cities that are not only acquiring outer park systems, such as will be suggested for Philadelphia, but securing central embellishments by parkways and grouping public buildings, just as the Fairmount Park Parkway will embellish the center of Philadelphia and will afford sites for all public buildings to be erected hereafter. Cleveland THE GROUP PLAN In a report of the St. Louis Group Plan Commission, to be hereinafter referred to, there is the following sentence: ‘“The City of Cleveland, which has a population of about one-half that of St. Louis, has actually started work on a municipal group scheme which the average citizens of any city in the United States would pronounce ‘ideal, but absolutely impossible of fulfilment.’ Cleveland has condemned acres in the best part of the municipal district and is building the buildings, just as she created her wonderfully beautiful park system.” This ‘‘ideal, but absolutely impossible-of-fulfilment’’? plan that is being fulfilled was suggested several years ago, when it happened that the construction of a City Hall, a Court-house, a Public Library, a new Union Station, and a United States Postofice was being considered. It was proposed that these buildings should be arranged around a mall so as to increase their convenience, to produce a complete effect, to enhance the beauty of each other and to give to the stranger an impression that would never be forgotten. After several years of effort, the plan herewith repro- duced was presented and has been adopted. It consists of a central mall cut from a part of the city, which, though near its center, has no buildings of great value, the land itself being less costly than that which surrounds it. At the head of this mall the United States Post-office is now in course of construction, balancing which appears the proposed Public Library, while at either side of the foot of the mall and facing the lake are shortly to be built the City Hall and the County building. The Union Station, ample in size and treatment for the needs of a rapidly growing city of 400,000 inhabitants, is shown terminating the composition to the northward, while bordering the lake is a proposed landing-place for passenger steamers. The situation is best described in a letter dated October 29, 1904, from Mr. Arnold W. Brunner, a member of the Commission: ‘‘Matters are progressing well in Cleveland. The present condition is this: The sites for the City Hall and the County Court-house — that is to say, the two buildings facing the lake—are purchased. Architects have been selected for these two buildings, and the plans are progressing. The Post-office is well under way, and several parcels of ground in the mall have already been bought by the City and new ground is constantly being 36 AcMyIeg YAvq JWNowsrey ay} JonIWsU0D UBD aM Ajains erydjaperryg jo paryi-auo yim ‘PURPAAIMD JJ "NO patio Suraq st uejd WUsoyIUseUL sty T, ‘yon os op ues ‘uonrpndod s acquired. ‘The Chamber of Commerce, at a meeting held September 27, 1904, enthusiasti- cally approved the entire scheme, and I think I may say that the progress is most gratifying.”’ Cleveland’s Group Plan establishes an entranceway to the city which for dignity and beauty will hardly be surpassed in any city in the world. Only a portion of the expense can be charged against the Group Plan. If there were no such plan the necessity would still exist for the purchase of sites for and erection of many buildings. In addition to this, it must be borne in mind that without the Group Plan more costly building sites would certainly have been selected than have now been secured. ‘Therefore, the net cost of the Group Plan is represented by the estimates for the land and improvement of the mall, $3,374,780. This is less than 25 per cent of the cost of the public buildings that will face it. Should we, however, include other buildings that will face the mall, the cost of the splendid setting will fall to 15 per cent, or perhaps even 10 per cent, of the total expenditure. The citizens of Cleveland may well regard the cost of the Group Plan as small in comparison with the permanent advantage of possessing such a civic center. Nor will the returns on the investment be merely beauty and civic pride. ‘There will be a great increase in the value of surrounding property, and a consequent increase in the amount of taxes collected. And, beyond all monetary considerations, the city must derive large benefits from its foresight in paving the way to what, but a few years hence, may correspond favorably with those wonderful and beautiful archi- tectural effects in European capitals that command the admiration of the world. THE PARK SYSTEM Cleveland is acquiring an outer park system that is shown in part upon the map. Though not great in acreage, it is so wisely planned as to produce an impression far beyond its actual area. It will be noted that its present encircling park system extends about one-quarter of the way around the city. Under date of February 2, 1905, the Chief Engineer of Parks wrote: ““We have six miles of parkway constructed. These parkways vary in width from 300 to 1,200 feet, according to the lay of the land. We intend to start this summer securing land for a parkway between Edgewater and Brookside Parks, and also between Ambler and Woodland Hills Parks. . . . . It will probably be several years before the system as planned is completed. To complete the girdle of parkways around the city will require the construction of sixteen miles of additional parkways.”’ The city now has 1,524 acres of park land, of which no less than 676 acres have been donated. A finer monument, a nobler philanthropy, than such a_bene- faction cannot be devised. For further information about the Cleveland Group System, apply to Arnold W. Brunner, 33 Union Square West, New York City. y For further information upon the Park System, apply to W. A. Stinchcomb, Chief Engineer of Parks, Cleveland, Ohio. 38 «AAU ay} UO ,, ALOUNSIp sr JUIWIACTA, YAWG YT “sYleq JO J9IuUISuq jaryD ayy wory paatsoar useq sey yieq sayemaspy pue yxseg uopsoy pur << UB[q dnorp ,, 243 uaaajaq uonoauuod pasodoid ayy Surmoys dew ve ‘payyeap sem deui styy aourg ‘undaq uaaq sey wisjsAs yred 4ajno sy[ aut} aues 943 Je aU Ia}NO jeaId B pue yUaMaAoIdu [esyUaD yea ev SuLyeW si puLlrdrD Rare taest save TM omnocom CUR QO0D0Q0/ S908, apse nN) au = } iL & = == I ey B=) & Soeaiaial X | . Ze | pS bee | ; i 1 _ mae) A ‘CITY OF STPAUL ITY -PAL Sa ee oCiry or STPAUL DPEMENT OF CAPITOL GWAINUS 4 neg’ : IRR EEY NOW ganiea DYKE PERNT GF OEE Me - rete pe | ee LA eS y~ oe £ NN \ Cancel sas” aces vines ce IS ” 3, Pinion, es. City oF STPAUL PLAN SWAYING A SRURCT AR AMREATNUE EX i t CORNEZS CANTRAL The existing situation and the steps by which it is proposed to work out the Group Plan of St. Paul sideration was given to this suggestion. The present condition, therefore, is that the new Capitol is not upon the axis of any important street, and the ground surrounding it is of a very unsymmetrical outline, particularly on the main front. In other respects, however, the location of the new building is admirable. It is conveniently and centrally placed and is at a considerable elevation, the land at this point being about 180 feet above the level of the river and nearly 100 feet above the general level of the business district, while it is approximately on a level with St. Anthony Hill (the principal residence district) above referred to. The building, therefore, is conspicuous from a distance but not visible from the main streets of the city. The development of the site brings with it the probability of the construction of high buildings in the neighborhood, which would seriously detract from the importance of the structure and obscure it from view. The problem, therefore, appears to be: ist. To enlarge and to make symmetrical the immediate surroundings of the building. 2d. To open up the vista from the business district. 3d. To provide a line of approach from Summit Avenue to St. Anthony Hill. 4th. To develop a broad avenue at right angles to the principal facade extending directly south to a point known as Seven Corners, where a number of streets intersect. The property adjacent to the Capitol site has but few buildings of value, but on the triangular block southwest of the site is located a large public school which, while of inferior construction and very bad design, is still considered to be a valuable asset of the city. The principal street-car lines between St. Paul and Minneapolis pass along Wabasha Street to the southwest of the building. It is necessary, therefore, first to get the consent of the city authorities to remove the school building and to change the street-car tracks, so as to permit the rounding out of the Capitol site in this direction. A movement has already been made to this end. The president of the street-railway company has given his personal assurance that he will aid in the project and move the car-tracks whenever the city is willing to change the line of Wabasha Street. Park Avenue, next west of the Capitol, has -been widened and straightened, and the city authorities have now recommended the purchase of the block west of Park Avenue, so that it is not improbable that the land immediately west and south of the building will be required for public purposes in the near future. The second in order of development is the opening of the vista from the direction of the business district, and to this end it is proposed to purchase the three narrow blocks that lie between Wabasha and Cedar Streets, from East Tenth Street to Central Avenue. (See plat No. 1. That portion of this plat that is colored shows the property now included in the Capitol site.) This would also include the straightening of Cedar Street and the purchase or restriction of the land east of Cedar Street, so as to make a public garden and to provide sites for future public buildings for state and municipal purposes, thus pre- venting the erection of any high buildings near the Capitol toward the southeast, 1. e., the direction in which the principal business district lies. The old State Capitol is located between East Tenth Street and Exchange, Wabasha and Cedar Streets, and the old building will probably be retained for public purposes. When this part of the project is completed, a vista of something over 2,000 feet from the old Capitol to the new will be obtained, and the space between the buildings on either side of the public garden would approximate 400 feet. The next step in this improvement should be the construction of an avenue from the 58 Capitol site to St. Anthony Hill at the point where Summit Avenue begins to wind along the crest of the hill; in other words, extending from the Capitol site to the corner of Summit Avenue and Dayton Avenue, affording a vista of about 3,500 feet. The land at the corner of Dayton and Summit Avenues has been purchased by the Archbishop of St. Paul, and plans are now under way for the erection of a Cathedral at this location. The land between the Capitol and the Cathedral is very uneven, and diffi- culties in the grades, especially at the intersection of the streets, would be encountered. The lowest point of land would be at about a point where Rice Street crosses the proposed avenue, and a viaduct would probably have to be built at this location so that Rice Street could pass under the avenue. Lastly, the project includes the construction of a broad avenue to the south of the center axis of the main front of the building, crossing the street to Seven Corners. The last- named point is one at which a number of streets concentrate and several lines of street- cars cross. At about half the distance between Seven Corners and the new Capitol there is at present a small park surrounded by inexpensive houses. There is a steep descent from the south side of this park to College Avenue, which runs diagonally south of it. The difference in grade is such as to prevent a driveway without deflecting from the main axis. It is, therefore, proposed to make use of this point of land by locating thereon a Soldier’s Monument, and to place broad flights of steps thence down to the College Avenue grade and to that portion of the avenue which leads to Seven Corners. The various parts of the project above suggested would be connected by streets and avenues now existing to the park system, which extends practically around the entire city. It will be observed that the various features of this development as shown upon Plat E are quite unsymmetrical, and the scheme as a whole is doubtless open to objection on this account. In the consideration of any such project, it is necessary to take into account the present streets and property lines so far as possible, and to devise an arrangement which will accom- modate itself to existing conditions. It has been roughly estimated that the cost of the land alone for this project would be about $2,000,000. The plan should be developed a little at a time, and from year to year, as the finances of the city would permit, without making a heavy additional burden of taxation upon the City or State. In the meanwhile the purpose of the present plats is simply to indicate the main points of development, with the understanding that further study of the subject would doubtless produce a more symmetrical design which would accomplish the general intention outlined above. The present status of the matter is that the Park Board of the City of St. Paul has, at a public meeting, unanimously approved of the project and recommended it to the City for adoption. The City has not as yet adopted the design, but has proceeded with the purchase of land west of the Capitol building, and the School Board has taken it into account by deferring action upon proposed additions to the Madison School Building above referred to, and the Board of State Capitol Commissioners has likewise deferred final action upon the development of the Capitol site until the City and State shall have moved in the matter. In the meanwhile it is being actively discussed by the daily newspapers, and a strong public sentiment favors it. Plat No. 1 shows the present Capitol site and the streets adjacent thereto. Plat A shows the development proposed to be. undertaken first. oy) Plat B shows that which should come next in order. Plat C shows the extension of the foregoing to Seven Corners. Plat D shows the foregoing, together with the addition of land northeast and west of the Capitol building, and R Plat E shows the foregoing, with the avenue from the Capitol to the Cathedral. Inasmuch as the Cathedral site has just been purchased since these plats were made and the purchase of the block west of the Capitol has also been consummated, the order in which the several parks of the development should be undertaken would be to some extent modified. New York, December 6, 1904. Cass GILBERT. We are at liberty to publish the following striking letter, dated January 14, 1905, written by Mr. Sherlock Swann to Mr. George Cary, of Buffalo: “The fire of last February burnt out an area of 140 acres, on, which were about 1,500 buildings. Before the fire was fairly out, plans were set on foot to turn what appeared to be a great calamity into what will eventually be a great blessing. A large committee of our most prominent citizens was called together by the late Mayor Robert M. McLane, to advise him as to what should be done. The result of their deliberations was the appoint- ment of the Burnt District Commission, of which I have the honor to be Chairman, to carry out a system of streets and wharf improvement recommended by them. A $6,000,000 loan was authorized, in addition to $4,600,000 which the city already had on hand, result- ing from the sale of the Western Maryland Railroad. This entire sum, namely, $10,600,000, was placed at the disposal of this Commission, to make the improvements already recom- mended and others that might be thought proper. In addition to this sum there is to be voted on at our spring election the issuance of a loan of $2,000,000 for the improvement of what is called the ‘‘Annex,’’ which is the outlying districts of the city; a loan of $1,000,000 for the improvement of the Park System, and a loan of $10,000,000 for the con- struction of sewers. Not being satisfied with this, the City Government is now effecting plans to ask for an additional loan of $5,000,000 for street paving, $1,000,000 for the con- struction of schoolhouses and $1,000,000 for the construction of firehouses, making a total of $20,000,000, which, together with the $10,600,000 already on hand, will amount to $30,- 600,000. You ask the question how the City expects to be reimbursed for such an outlay. It would be unnecessary for me to discuss with you, being a resident of Buffalo, the enhancement of property values where improved pavements are laid, or the necessity of having a sufficient number of school and fire-engine houses. The sewers when built will be self-supporting. The amount intended to be expended for the park system will not require any increase in taxation, as the receipts from what is known as the “Park Tax”’ paid by the street railways, will be ample to meet the interest upon it and allow for a sinking-fund. The ‘‘ Annex’’ loan of $2,000,000 will bring hundreds of thousands of dol- lars’ worth of property into the full rate of taxes, which now under the original agreement of annexation pays a very low rate; therefore, the question comes down as to how the City expects to get a return for the $10,600,000, or as much of it as we may expend. I will call attention to the fact that in the fifteen street widenings and the dock improvement we will remove about 600 pieces of property from the tax books, so that it appears on the face 60 of it that not only will we have to carry the $10,600,000 burden, but the taxable basis will be reduced to that extent; such, however, is not the case. When these buildings are removed it must tend greatly to enhance the value of others that remain, which will be reflected by higher assessed valuations for taxable purposes. I will mention a fact to bear me out in this, that on a small street that we widened there is a certain piece which had hung fire in the market for many years. I think it was in the neighborhood of eighty feet deep, with a building upon it. Since the fire we took twenty feet from its depth to widen the street, leaving only a sixty-foot lot without a building, the one that was there having been burned with the rest, and an offer of double the price previously asked with the building on it has been refused. The enhancement in the value of all the property as a general thing in the burnt district has been something marvelous, owing to the improvements we have so far made. By the acquirement of what is known here as the Dock property, which consisted of a lot of old obsolete docks and piers that were originally intended for the craft of fifty years ago, the City will be enabled to construct modern piers and docks capable of taking care of large vessels and enabling them to deliver their goods in the very heart of the City. This property has been used to a great extent in recent years for storage pur- poses, and the water was of no value. Now it will be put to the greatest utility under municipal ownership. Already applications for leases of this space exceed the amount avail- able certainly fivefold. There is no question that public improvements of this character in any city must in time not only repay for any reasonable outlay, but as years go on, the greater taxable basis eventually decreases the amount of levy annually necessary. Judging from the results obtained here, and as you know we have not as yet had a year in which to see them, I would say that any city that loses or lets pass an opportunity for great pub- lic improvement takes a step backward in the path of progress. Very truly yours, (Signed) SHERLOCK SWANN, Chairman.” 61 Mount Pleasant Press J. Horace McFarland Company Harrisburg, Pa, rT | « 4)