VIEW IN PETTIBONE PARK

daLaTdNOO NUHM AVaddV TIM LI SV WaVd AAT

THE MAKING
of a

Park System in La Crosse

—_—______

REPORT
by

JOHN NOLEN, Landscape Architect
"CAMBRIDGE, MASS.

1911

<0 BAP

La Crosse, Wisconsin

MUVedl

SIM HSSOMD Vil
AGA"
NV Td IVQUANSD

ddSOd0Ud

=o

=e

44iLy

Linus

“Park Commission

“La Crosse tt Wisconsin

J. M. HIXON, Chairman

L. F. EASTON

E. L. COLMAN

HENRY GUND

FRED SCHNELL, Secretary

JOHN NOLEN, Landscape Architect
JOHN H. FORRER, Park Superintendent

“Parks

“The life history of humanity has proved
nothing more clearly than that crowded popula-
tions, if they would live in health and happiness,
must have space for air, for light, for exercise,
for rest, and for the enjoyment of that peaceful
beauty of nature which, because it is the opposite
of the noisy ugliness of towns, is so wonderfully
refreshing to the tired souls of towns-people.”’
—Charles Eliot.

“In scarcely anything to be determined by
local public opinion acting influentially upon
local legislation and administration, is a city
likely to be so much made or marred for all its
future as in proceedings in prosecution of a park
project. iy ie ip %

“For every thousand dollars judiciously in-
vested in a park the dividends to the second gen-
eration of the citizens possessing it will be much
larger than to the first, the dividends to the third

generation much larger than the second. ~*~ ~*

“That those in charge of a park work may
proceed economically; they must be able to pro-
ceed with confidence, method, and system, stead-
ily, step after step, to carry to completion a well-
matured design.’’—Frederick Law Olmstead.

“Plans and Drawings

Bird’s Eye View of Levee Park.

General Plan for Levee Park.

General Plan for Copeland Park.

General Plan for West Avenue Playfield.
General Plan for Adams Street Playground.

General Plan for a City Park System for La Crosse.

ye

ST CLOUD STREET

ee:

STREET

ST JAMES STREET

| -

Rose

WINDSOR STREET.

ST Pau

sence sorrmin

LA CROSSE WIS

PLANTING PLAN
COPELAND PARK

THE MAKING OF A PARK
SYSTEM IN LA CROSSE.

No better illustration could be given of the making of a park
system by a small city than the recent experience of La Crosse. It
should be recalled that three years ago it had not even a park
commission, and it is less than two years since the actual work of
park construction was begun. Yet it has to-day the substantial
framework of a comprehensive park system that is equalled by few
cities, if any, of the same size. This achievement is so notable and
the steps by which it has been brought about are so little known,
even to many of the citizens of La Crosse, that I believe it worth
while to review briefly the methods that have been used, to describe
the general character of the parks and playgrounds themselves and
to draw certain conclusions that seem justified by the first year’s
work of the La Crosse Park Commission.

Pettibone Park Was the Beginning.

The beginning of parks in La Crosse is to be found in Pettibone
Park, a naturally beautiful Island in the Mississippi River, directly
opposite the business section of the city, but unfortunately situated
within the boundaries of the State of Minnesota. Established in
1890 as a public pleasure ground, through the generosity of Mr.
A. W. Pettibone, this Island Park at first supplied the demand for
public parks and then created an insistent demand for more.
Never a city park in a complete sense, it has, nevertheless, always
been open to the free use of the people. Its administration 1s
vested. in a special park board,* appointed by Mr. Pettibone and
the funds for the acquisition of the land, for construction and for
maintenance have been provided by the same generous and public-
spirited individual. He has placed in the hands of the aforesaid
Park Board the sum of $50,000, the income from which is to be
used in the proper maintenance of the park. Pettibone Park

*The present members are: J. M. Hixon, President; F. P. Hixon, Vice-
President; Geo. H. Gordon, Sec’y.; G. W. Burton, Treasurer; E. L. Colman;
Mayor John Dengler.

Eleven

Shot

GRANDAD BLUFF AND PROPOSED COULEE PARK

contains about two hundred acres. It has an exceedingly irregular
shore line, picturesque and beautiful lagoons; and if properly de-
veloped might easily rival the famous Belle Isle Park of Detroit.
Indeed, the views of River scenery are much finer than those from
Belle Isle. But to make Pettibone Park a thoroughly satisfactory
recreation ground, it should be raised securely above the high water
of the Mississippi River and the control and jurisdiction of the
Island transferred by the Legislature of Minnesota to the City
of La Crosse.

Yet, after all, Pettibone Park only prepared the way. The
real beginning was made when the Common Council of La Crosse
on May 15, 1908, passed the ordinance creating two park districts
and establishing a Board of Park Commissioners. By this ordinance
a non-political, unpaid commission of four members was provided
for. These Commissioners were to be appointed by the Mayor,
subject to the approval of the Common Council. Acting in accord-
ance with this ordinance, Mayor Wendell A. Anderson, whose
splendid services for parks and the welfare of the city generally,
cannot be overestimated, appointed as the first Board of Park
Commissioners, J. M. Hixon, L. F. Easton, BH. L. Colman, and
Henry Gund,—all men of public spirit, high standing and great
ability.

Landscape Architect Engaged.

The next step was the selection by the Board of a landscape
architect as its expert adviser and the arrangement soon after for
a public mass meeting to present to the general public the tentative
plans for a park system and the reasons for such a system in a city
like La Crosse. The meeting was held in the Opera House. The
arrangements were unusually well made, the local newspapers
co-operating heartily and as a result a large and representative
audience completely filled the Hall. The Mayor presided. The
speakers pointed out that in nothing is the welfare of a city so
permanently influenced as in the selection of sites for parks and the
construction of an adequate system of play and pleasure grounds.
A park system, it was said, should be comprehensive, including city
squares, equipped and supervised playgrounds, small and large
parks and scenic reservations, all connected, one with another, by
parkways or boulevards. And to be adequate, such a system should
not only meet the demands of all classes of the people in all parts
of the city to-day, but should reasonably anticipate the needs of
the future. The contribution that parks make to pleasure, to health

Thirteen

Megs

pen eT

*

om sew

MAIN STREET SQUARE BEFORE AND AFTER IMPROVEMENT

and, both directly and indirectly, to the prosperity of cities was
illustrated by the experience of other places. The four conclusions
to which the addresses of the evening pointed definitely were:
(1) That Park lands for the City of La Crosse would never again
be so cheap; (2) That once acquired, they would steadily increase
in value; (3) That the experience of every city that has judiciously
undertaken park improvements had demonstrated that they pay
for themselves *; (4) That the adoption of a permanent park policy
is more than likely to bring rich gifts of land and money for park
purposes. Of the general soundness of these views, the audience
was convinced, and at the conclusion of the meeting, the following
resolutions were unanimously adopted:

Massmeeting Adopts Resolutions.

“Whereas, The City of La Crosse is in need of greater park
privileges and facilities and is admirably adapted by situation and
natural advantages for the carrying out of a general plan for the
establishment of a comprehensive park system,

“Now Therefore, Be it resolved by the eitizens of La
Crosse in mass meeting assembled this 18th day of November,
1908, that we are in favor of the adoption and execution of a plan
of park improvement which will tend to beautify our city and minis-
ter to the comfort and pleasure of all our citizens. And be it further

“Resolved, That we indorse the steps already taken in
this direction by the appointment of a park commission and
heartily approve the proposed action of the Common Councill in
levying a one mill tax to be set apart and expended under the
direction of the park commission for park purposes, and pledge
our support to all future efforts and actions of the commission and
common council for the accomplishment of these purposes. And
be it further

“Resolved, that our thanks be and are hereby extended to
Mr. John Nolen for his able, interesting and instructive lecture
and to the park commission for its efforts in providing for this
opportunity to hear the same. And be it further

“Resolved, That these resolutions be transmitted to the
common council of the city of La Crosse and a copy thereof to the

*The conclusion of a citizens’ committee appointed by the Madison City
Council, was that from 10 to 15 per cent of the increase of real estate values
within that city since 1893 was due to the park and drive work. This would
mean an annual income to the City from taxes of more than twenty thousand
dollars. See ‘Madison Parks as a Municipal Investment.’

Fifteen

s ne, Wi fat
x wet

$
Ya Aa

\.

4s

PETIIBONE PARK LAGOON

park commission and to the daily and weekly newspapers: pub-
lished in the city. And be it further

“Resolved, That we are in favor of issuing bonds in such
amounts as may be necessary to carry out the recommendations of
the park commission.”’

Tax Levied for Park Purposes.

At a meeting of the Council held a few days later, this enthu-
silastic action of the people was confirmed by the levying of a one
mill tax for parks and later by the issuing of bonds for seventy-
five thousand dollars for the purchase of land and for the necessary
construction. Thus in six months the work of park making in
La Crosse was successfully inaugurated.

It requires but a brief residence in La Crosse to see that the
methods of procedure followed in beginning the park work were
not different from the methods which the city had already followed
in other matters. In paving its business and residence streets
with an unusual degree of excellence, in placing all telegraph and
telephone wires underground a decade ago, in hospitality to strangers
and in other practical and progressive ways advancing the civic
life, La Crosse had already established an enviable reputation.
Thus the park project followed approved and successful precedents
and was not looked upon in any sense as an experiment.

Sites Naturally Fitted for Parks.

It was the aim of the Park Commission and its landscape
adviser to select property that was naturally fitted for park use,
that could be developed economically, that would reflect and pre-
serve the characteristic and beautiful topographical features of
La Crosse, and that, when improved, would constitute a whole,
each part having relation to every other part, and together form-
ing a comprehensive, well-distributed system in which the needs
of each section were adequately and fairly provided for. The
situation of the City is remarkable and of great beauty. With one
of the finest parts of the Mississippi River on the west and a noble
range of high and rugged bluffs on the east, it occupies a broad and
fertile valley, offering an ideal site for both business and residence
purposes*. The most striking and characteristic natural features
are, of course, the river and the bluffs. It was decided at once that

*The valley extending from La Crosse to Salem, Bangor, Rockland,
Sparta and beyond is a marvel of loveliness.

Seventeen

COPELAND PARK BEFORE

COPELAND PARK AFTER

ie
iP

Pt ic ea oo

LEVEE

PARK BEFORE

these should be included in the park plans and that all the forms
of recreation that river and bluffs make possible should be provided.

The existing parks available as a nucleus for the new system
were the two half blocks in the built-up section of the city, Myrick
Park and Drive and the Losey Boulevard. After a great deal of
investigation on the ground, supplemented by careful study and
plan making, the following system of parks, parkways, squares
and playgrounds was adopted:

Park System for City of La Crosse.

‘(1) Copeland Park. This is a tract of more than twenty
acres in North La Crosse with a frontage of half a mile on the Black
River, commanding some of the finest views of the Minnesota
bluffs. A wide promenade runs all along the water front and the
plan for the park includes provision for many forms of active
recreation and quieter relaxation. Its arrangement is in keeping
with the best modern thought and practice, which show a tendency
to make much greater use of our parks than heretofore. They are
looked upon less and less as luxuries, as beautiful pictures merely
for occasional holiday enjoyment; they have become an essential
part of every day hfe in cities. While the making of Copeland
Park called for extensive filling by dredging from the River, the cost
of the property was relatively low and a very considerable area
was presented as a gift to the City by Mr. F. A. Copeland, in recogni-
tion of whose generosity and fine citizenship, the Park received
its name.

(2) Levee Park. This will contain about twelve acres and
is happily situated at the natural water approach to the City and
close to the business center. The plan for this Park is more orna-
mental than Copeland Park. The water front will continue to be
used for business purposes, but the undeveloped area between the
River and the railroad tracks will be filled, improved and made
available for recreation.

Largest and Most Beautiful Park.

(3) Grandad Bluff and Miller’s Coulee. The Park which it
is proposed to create at this point will be the largest and most beauti-
ful in La Crosse. In fact, few cities have such an opportunity.
Grandad Bluff is the highest in the neighborhood of La Crosse and
rises majestically to a height of 1,172 feet. The Coulee which
nestles in its side affords a type of scenery of great attractiveness.
It is beautiful and restful, as well as adapted for a pleasure ground

Twenty-One

STHEBT

LAWN PLAYFIELD

a5 = 22
sot ae 3
—F TS a)

Acnson

JECTION AB

ALLEY

GeO stREET us

PLAYGROUND

aoe aS 6 2
© ° meth CENERAL PLAN

ron

ADAMS STREET PLAYGROUND

LACROSSE WIS
a

Scale 20Ft=1In

John Nolen Landecape Architect
Cambridge Mase

z

WEST AVENUE AND ADAMS STREET PLAYFIELDS

for city people as any that can be conceived. This property is
only partially acquired but when completed, it will probably in-
clude over four hundred acres. It is as good an illustration of
ready-made park as could be found, and except for road making,
the cost of its improvement will be slight.

(4) West Avenue Playfield. The acquisition of this three
acre field at West Avenue and Jackson Street—more than a full
city block in extent—illustrates the interest of the Park Commission
in Playgrounds for the children. The entire area has been care-
fully graded, improved, and planted, providing for all-the-year-
round use, including field games and skating, and a small park-hke
area for the recreation of the children’s parents.

(5) Adams Street Playground. Although smaller in area,
this property corresponds in character and development to the
West Avenue Playfield. It provides for its neighborhood a good
base-ball field and a place for skating in winter. The south end of
the lot is to be furnished with sand gardens, swings, ladders, ete.,
for the smaller children. There is also room for a Playground
Shelter Building which has been constructed in such a way as to
permit of its use by the City as a voting booth.

(6) Block at George and Livingstone Streets on the North
Side. It is proposed to acquire and improve this block much after
the manner of the Adams Street Playground.

(7) La Plume Island. At present this Island is low and re-
quires filling. When filled and improved, it will make for the South
End of the City a park much like Pettibone Park.

(8S) Forty acres at the South End of West Avenue. This
property is not imperatively needed by the City for immediate
use, but it is a valuable reservation for the future and illustrates
the foresight of the Park Commission and its efforts to anticipate
at least the most important needs of the period immediately
ahead, for the City is growing rapidly toward the south.

Plan to Double Size of Main Street Square.

(9) Main Street Square. The City already owns one-half
this Square. By purchasing the other half, which can still be had
on reasonable terms, a splendid open space would be secured in the
heart of the City, around which public and semi-public buildings
could be placed. The Public Library, one of the public school
buildings, the new Y. M. C. A., the Masonic Temple, and the Con-
gregational Church now front on the half block. By extending
it as proposed, the setting of all these buildings would be greatly

Twenty-Three

VIEWS OF PETTIBONE PARK

COPYRIGHT BY GEO. E MARINER

improved and beautiful and appropriate sites would be obtained
for as many more. There is no other property in the central
part of the City which offers so good an opportunity and it
should not be lost by delay.

(10) Reservation on the Viaduct between North and South
La Crosse. Such a property is now easily secured and would
provide a park for the future at. a central situation.

(11) Inter-State Fair Grounds. This tract of 37 acres is now
owned by the City and it is proposed later to make it the principal
athletic ground for the older boys and young men of the City. Here
there is room for a very complete provision for all the field sports,
tennis, etc. The location is admirable for the purpose.

System of Parkways and Boulevards.

(12) Parkways. It is proposed to connect all these parks,
squares and praygrounds by a complete system of parkways and
boulevards. Beginning, say, at the Levee Park, it would go out
State to Seventh, north on Seventh across the Viaduct to Rose,
to St. James, to Avon, to Clinton, to Kane, to Livingstone, to
George, and to the City limits. Later the roads indicated on the
general plan to the north, east, and south of the City would be im-
proved so as to make a continuous circuit, bringing the traveller
back to Seventh Street on the South Side, on to State Street, and
to the Levee Park where the start was made. This circuit of fifteen
miles might not be entirely free from some relatively common-
place sections, yet most of it could easily be made very attractive.
Even now a very large percentage affords views both near and far
that could not be equalled by the best parkways in the larger
cities. In addition to this Circuit, West Avenue, running north
and south, and Cass street, east and west, should receive the atten-
tion due to specially important thoroughfares.

This brief description is intended simply to draw attention to
the main elements of the. La Crosse Park System. Incidentally
there followed also an improvement and extension of school grounds
in which the Park Commission assisted. The general plan of the
City, and the plans of the Parks and Playgrounds that accompany
this report supplement the outline here given. Copeland Park,
the West Avenue Playfield, and the Adams Street Playground are
already completed and in use. The co-operation of the railroads
has been a factor of importance.

Twenty-Five

MaVd MOAN

re EDO bony Atte :

Mtn om ge was:

ae ee a
i ee a ee

Successful Methods Followed.

The methods followed at La Crosse, a city of but 31,000 popu-
lation, it should be remembered, have been so successful and the
results so satisfactory that it is worth while to note the lessons which
the experience gives as a guide for the future not only of La Crosse
but of the many other small cities in the United States which are
now in a position not unlike that which confronted La Crosse two
years ago.

The six points of most significance are:

(1) The main reliance from the beginning was upon public
action and public support. The people were taken in on the ground
floor, so to speak, and made to feel that the work was not only to
be for them, but was to be done by them. The Parks and Play-
grounds were put in exactly the same class as the public school
and the public library and in renewing the appropriation this year,
the members of the City Council showed that they looked upon them
in this way. In the case of La Crosse, and it should be the case
elsewhere, generous public action has been supported and supple-
mented by generous private action, the private gifts to the La Crosse
Parks probably equalling the annual appropriations by the City.

(2) The Park Commission has, from the start, applied the
efficient methods of private business to the administration of this
new city department and with similar good results. Each City
dollar was expected to bring a full dollar’s worth of work or material
—and it did.

(3) Before a step was taken toward execution, a complete
general plan was prepared for all the parks and playgrounds in-
cluded in the present system. This inspired public confidence in
every part of the City. Too much emphasis cannot be given to
beginning in this way. It not only wins confidence; it prevents
mistakes and contributes to economy in many directions.

Cost for Park System only Fifty Cents Per Capita.

(4) The cost of these parks and playgrounds for La Crosse
has not been heavy. The Council has issued twenty-year bonds
for seventy-five thousand dollars and the one mill tax has yielded
a little over twenty thousand dollars a year for two years. Against
the bond issue, the City has an asset which will steadily increase
in value and always be worth more than its cost. It is to be re-
eretted that the law of Wisconsin limits all bond issues to twenty
years. In the case of land purchase, it would seem that the law

Twenty-Seven

AYANAOS YHATA ASSOXO VT

of Minnesota, which permits such issues to be for forty or fifty
years, would be better for future as well as present generations,
because it would lead to a more adequate and more economical
provision for the future. But even under the present law and the
extra expenses inevitable during a period of heavy construction
the annual cost has not exceeded fifty cents per capita.

(5) Another conclusion justified by the experience of La
Crosse, is the possibility, especially in the smaller places, of enlist-
ing in the service of the community the most honorable and able
men. If an unpaid Commission is created, free from political
influence, under conditions that permit of a large public service,
it will always be possible, as at La Crosse, to find qualified men to
accept. These men have had a hand in a piece of constructive
public work in which they can always take pride and they have
won the gratitude of the people of their own city.

(6) The final lesson of the La Crosse Parks is their effect
upon the civic spirit of the entire community. There has beena
noticeable quickening of civic pride and an awakening of interest
in civic affairs which is worth all that these public improvements
have cost in money and personal work.

VIEW OF PROPOSED COULEE PARK

Twenty-Nine

CEMETERY DRIVE

An Acknowledgment

It seems proper and fitting that there should accompany this
report of Mr. Nolen’s which will become a part of the written history
‘of La Crosse, a record of the names of the loyal and generous citizens
who have by gift assisted in the work of park building. May their
personal satisfaction equal the pleasure their generosity will give to
the thousands in years to come: The following gave their river front
property which made Levee Park possible:

J. J. HOGAN AND FAMILY W. W. CARGILL FAMILY
G. A. KAEPPLER EMIL T. MUELLER

S. B. OATMAN T. H. SPENCE

Sy vo ay DE ISIDORE SCHILLING

The following gentlemen subscribed the sum of forty-three thou-
sand dollars to aid in the expense of making Levee Park:

HENRY GUND F. P. HIXON
L. C. COLMAN GEO. C. HIXON
H. L. COLMAN L. F. EASTON
E. L. COLMAN

To aid in making a park on the North Side Mr. F. A. Copeland
gave eight acres of land.

A piece of land adjoining Myrick Park and necessary for continu-
ing the drive and completing the shore line was given by L. F. Easton.

Isle La Plume was given by the John Paul Lumber Company and
the C. L. Colman Lumber Company.

GRANDAD BLUFF PROPERTY

This property was acquired by Ellen J. Hixon who was en-
couraged thereto by the interest taken and the subscriptions of the
following persons:

DR. EDW. EVANS B. E. EDWARDS
ELSIE GILE SCOTT 1B, 1d, ITI MLE NC
GEO. ZEISLER MRS. G. VAN STEENWYK
EUGENE PERKINS PAUL BROTHERS
H. J. HIRSHHEIMER GEO. H. GORDON
J. B. FUNKE FORREST J. SMITH
R. E. OSBORNE COLMAN BROTHERS
HENRY GUND L. F. EASTON
F. A. COPELAND SMITH MFG. CO.
G. HEILEMAN BREWING CO. ELLIOT & LOEFFLER CO.
LA CROSSE WATER POWER CO.
Respectfully,
J. M. HIXON,

President Park Commission.

ca
N
n
°
oe
)
a
ml
me
=)
ice
2
fx)
[=
2)
Se
n
Na
fe
a
a
>
S
e)

a
”n
Zi

Of i"
Oo:

4
s

- ‘ q . 4 & ~ ae Z pf
SP tee R26"
TR raw cer —_ : s
Lise Panne t ens : a ere ae os
; > - : iin + aaa

A at

Re ee he Si

¢ Cordes

| eS MI ECON AIA ere

eA Yea
Se

- 3 (CILA bYHNKRe eke LE LI ase

Sg ee ay
PE

iB: =

iii