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"I would have the city itselfsuch a work ofart as may be the jitting abode ofa race ofmen and women ... whose efforts shall be inspired and sustained by the grandeur' and beauty ofthe scenes in which their lives are passed."- H. W. S. Cleveland
The eminent landscape architect Horace W. S. Cleveland set forth this vision of urban life in an address tO,the Min , ., neapolis Society ofFine Arts in 1888. bn¢ year later ~. , Cleveland would be called to Omaha by the newly formed Board of Park Commissioners to design 'a public green space system for the city booming on the bluffs of the Missouri River. Through th'tefforts ofCle,:eland, public officials and civic-minded citizens, the foundation was laid for a park and boulevard system that has "inspired ami sustained" Omaha residents by its "grandeur and beauty" for more than one hundred years. While the natural beauty and recreational benefitsoi ' , !; , Omaha's parks are widely appreciated, aspects of the sys , tem's historic importance have not been fully recognized. ! Because of its association with H.W. S. Cleveland - an important figure in 19th c«ntury American landscape architecture - Omaha's park and boulevard systemsbr' vives as a signjficant lanqrnark in landscape design and urban planning in the Midwest.
Hanscom Parkj 1918
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I ,', Though it might now appear that. a number of Oma- chased in advance ofits development, before the price ha's older parks such as Hanscom or Elmwood are essen· became prohibitive, and purchases needed to be made tially tracts that have remained in their natural state, in strategically, so that park sites could accommodate later actuality, the case is quite different.J:.ooking now at a population growth. stand ofpines that crowns a hill in Miller Park, one The Park Commissioners' work in developing policy would not.il\J.agine that the site was a flat, treeless corn· and procedures aimed at shaping the future form and field when it was purchased iii 1893. An immense development of the city was an innovative practice, one amount ofplanning and expertise, money and physical that anticipated modern-day city planning. Under the lead '.1, labodr wdere "kxPIenddeTdhin transfPlrming the ,Vacant plot into ership of the Commissioners and the guidance ofH.W.S. woo e Par an. e examp e ofMiller Park is not Cleveland, Omaha was early among cities'of the Midwest unique;.each ofour parks and parkways was created to institute and act upon this comprehenshe program for through a lengthy and complex process that included, city betterment - this vision that would have the whole among other things, land surveying and grading, tree city "a'work of art." planting, stream rerouting, and road building. The ideas, hopes and energies of H.W.S. Cleveland These land-shaping activities were inspired and and civic-minded Omahads of a celitury ago are embodied directed by H. W. S. Cleveland's ideas about urban park in the designs ofour historic parks and boulevards; their land design. He believed that the land's natural beauty I form and features bear the stamp of those who fashioned , and interesting features should be respected and retained; them andthe period in which they were produd,d,Over :':ii but with the landscape architect's idealism, Cleveland felt the years, however, thestory ofthe origins of our park Ij that nature could he improved to bring about a more system has been largely forgotten. The intent of this guide pleasing aesthetic effect. By artistically arranging trees I is to bring the foundations of.this livinglandritark to. light. and shrubbery, laying out paths and roads that followed "'1 th.e natural contours ofthe ground, and enhancing exist t ing features such as cliffs or ravines, Cleveland created j ii remarkably scenic park land, often from properly that 'ii was considered worthless. Aspects ofOmahll'S early ii' parks and boulevards display his design signature yet i' today. i 1 !:IB, The concerns. of Cleveland and those who launched Birch Drive, Miller l:'J1i":::C·'t',,:' , " .. ", ""_ ' .I . Park; 1917 P~ii;}Omaha sparks movement extetl?e?p~rOnd a singular ! ii~iBi;(tocus on the arrangement Of~~~(lrlil~grading of a hill: iH;'~1rlil~$yisi()t1 was bfoader'1'1!eY?~limY\l~that the building ii~il!le~~~~1~¥~l~i~f:~f~f:~1~;::~e:Y:f::~ ,I ij::~irl\webofparks andb6UJevards that stretched across the To accomplish this purpose, the guide begins with a i n~w\'6~tfre'~itY:< . ·1 des\;'ription ofthe early growth and development ofthe ;:i~.'.!~ .MlIking parks and boulevards "integral portions of '1 Omaha park system, placed within the historic context of the 19th century parks movement in the Ucited States. i..i. r:i..•...·.'.·•.,.'.i.,...'..•.i. the. C.ity, inst.ead.o~ being.merelY. ornamental'llPp~ndages:' 'i :'{::,.as Cleveland put It, reqwred a great deal ofmumclpal Following is information.about the system's individual j ,<'coordination and planning; more than city gove~ments parks and boulevards - also focusing on their early histo : ofa century ago were wont to do. Land needed to be pur- ry - arranged in the form of a tour.
2 3 I Covered in the course ofthis guide are a dozen parks Even before Central Par~ was completed, a number and approximately thirty-five miles ofboulevards. Space of other cities - among them Philadelphia, Baltimore, permits only a brief stop at .each ofthese major sites, but' Brooklyn and Detroit - began to develop plans for plea we hope that the informaiion presented will. encourage . sure grounds based on the Central Park model, and in . yoU to further explore the rich history and scenic beauty many cases with Olmsted's direct design help. In the ofthis impoit""t civic resource. decades following the Civil War, the interest in park building spread from older, more established cities to newly developing urban areas; the movement caught hold in Omaha in the 1880s. Historic Context The Greening of Omaha American cities experienced tremendous growth in the The push for parks in Omaha c\llminate'd in 1889 with the later decades of the 19th century. At mid-century, only state legislature's enactment ofa law that gave metropoli one in five Americans lived in urban areas; by I 900, the tan class cities an effective)neans ofacquiring, develop proportion ofcity-dwellers had climbed to about 40 per ing and maintaining a system ofpublic parks and boule cent of the total U.S. population. The nation's largest city, vards. Before the passage of this statute, the City of New York, for example, grew by a factorofflve -from Om.a.~a)a£~edthe clear legal authority to establish a park about 700,000 to almost 3.5 million persons - in the commission with the power to rai~e funds through taxa fifty-year period between 1850 and 1900. tion and the issuance ofbonds. Consequently, atthe time of the new legislation, Jefferson Square - the only pub American Urbanization and the Growth of the Parks' lic property surviving from the original 1854 platting of Movement the city ~ was in dire need of a facelift; and Hanscom As 19th century American cities grew larger, dirtier, more Park, a fifty-acre tract donated to the city in 1872, re crowded and crime-ridden, voices emerged through the mained virtualIy undeveloped and little used. ' to lead the way to a more ideal urban vision. This The poor state of the city's park properties had long new view ~ shaped by social reformers, engineers, been disturbing to a number of Omaha's leading citizens physicians, architects and poets - proposed that the sal who had lobbied forcefulIy for the 1889 legislation. The vation of cities was to be found in the country. Or at least cause was perhaps closest to the heart and pen of George in the qualities and values inherent in rural life. Accord L. Miller, an Omaha pioneer physician who refocused his ing to these civic improvers, urbanization had obscured career on newspapering in 1865 when he co-founded the the connection between humankind and nature: break up Omaha Daily Herald. An avid arborist, Miller used his I the urban gridiron with naturalistic greenery and a more editorial power to convince the public of the need for civilized city wO\lld result. parks - a need that was becoming increasingly pressing One ofthe primary proponents ofthis view was in the boom years of the 1880s. Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903), who is acknowl Inthe decade of the 1880s, Omaha's population edged as the father ofAmerican landscape architecture. jumped from thirty thousand to over one hundred thou Olmsted was a key figure in the 19th century urban parks sand.persons. As the city consumed lI!0re and more ofthe movement and together with his partner Calvert Vaux adjoining countryside, Dr. MiIIer and it growing group of won the 1858 competition to design New York City's like-minded residents feared the increase of urban ills and Central Park, the nation's first comprehensively planned saw parks prOViding an effective antidote. Not only con public urban park. cemed with bettering conditions inside the city limits,
4 5 Elmwood ParJq 1914 Dr. Miller served three terms in the territoriallegisla ture and then was nominated for Congress. A defeat at the polls ended his further pursuit ofelected office, yet it did not dim his desire for an active career in politics and pub lic service. Toward this end, in 1865, Miller co-founded . the Omaha Daily Herald. As the newspaper's publisher and editor for more than twenty years, Miller acquired a stro~g and respected voice that affected public affairs on local, state and national levels. One of Dr. Miller's most. importatit!'"contnbullons to the city and the entire state was the important role he played in securing the location ofthe Union Pacific's bridge and eastern termi~usat Omaha in 1868. By suc-
L this group of influential citizens also wanted to improve Omaha's image to the rest ofthe country, A fine system ofparks would add a civilized and progressive aspect to the city ofstockyards, smelters, wholesaling and railroad ing. In tum, this enhanced image would attract people and capital. Parks could bring increased pr
contrast to the productivity and public character of his .",'. earlier years: in 1909 he suffered a mental collapse and remained an invalid until his death at the age ofninety in 1920. In the care of his niece, he died a poor man, buried with funds provided by his friends. To begin the biographical profile of Dr. Miller in their History ofthe City ofOmaha, Nebraska, JamesW. Sav age and John T. Bell write: "Of all those who have been identified with the growth and progress of Omaha and have left their impression upon its history, no one has a reputation more to be coveted than George L. Miller."
H.W.S. Cleveland Under the leadership of President Miller, one ofthe Board ing land" for efficiency and beauty in the newly develop ofCommissioners' first and most farsighted actions was, ing cities of the midwestern region. the commissioning of the eminent landscape architect Horace Cleveland worked on Omaha projects for a H.W.S. Cleveland (1814-1900) to provide direction in five-yearperiod from 1889 until 1894, when health con , designing a comprehensive park system for the city. cerns forced him to give up his work here. Board of When the Omaha Board selected Horace William Commissioners annual reports show that over this period Shaler Cleveland, then seventy-five, to serve as its advi he was paid approximately $6,000 for plans for. Jefferson sor, the landscape architect was livi!l~ in Minneapolis Sq\lare, Hanscom, Elmwood, Bemi~, Miller, and Font where he was employed in a similar capacity by the Park enelle parks, as well as survey and design work for por Boards ofMinneapolis and St. Paul. A native ofMassa tions of Florence Boulevard. Through his later writings, it chusselts, Cleveland early in his life worked as a farmer, is known that Cleveland himself considered his Omaha land surveyor and horticulturisl. He became associated plans to be among his most important work.
8 , 9 Regrettably, Board of Commissioners reports pro of park system design bas~d on studies ofEuropean and vide little specific information about the landscape archi American cities. Applying these principles specifically to tect's actual designs. More unfollunate is the fact that Omaha, Cleveland proposes a series of small parks neither Cleveland's drawings nor plans, and few other "pleasantand easily accessible resorts for pedestrians" materials 10 11 Foundations of the System The map shows how the ~ystem's foundations would Between 1889 and 1894, five major tracts of land that be expanded over the years to more fUlly realize its origi would become Bemis, Elmwood, Fontenelle, Miller and nal designers' intentions. While a number of major parks Riverview parks were acquired by the Commissioners, were already in place by the mid-1890s, only a portion of expanding Pi'~FC land holdings from about sixty to Florence Boulevard was open for public use. Therefore, almost five hundred aeres. Apart from property received as the map illustrates, much attention would be focused by the Board through private'donations, a majority of this over the next twenty years on the construction of links total acreage. was purchased by,funds provided. through a between existing park properties. $400,000 bond issue passed b~Omaha voters in 1891. To summarize this activity, around the turn of the Also during this five-year period, Florence Boule century, work WOUld. be started on boulev,ards Ifnking vard was opened and progress on acquiring real estate for Riverview, Hanscom and Bemis parks. By 191O,Iand portions of other boulevards was under way. Major was acquired to begin the connection between Fontenelle improvement projects directed by H.W. S. Cleveland and Elmwood parks. Finally, during the teens, the City were completed in Jefferson Square and Hanscom Park, would complete the conne~tor from Elmwood to Font and substantial work was, begun in Bemis, Elmwood, and enelle and initiate construction on links between Bemis, . Miller parks following the landscape architect's plans. Fontenelle and Miller parks. At this time a major improvement program was also ,,' JI\ a<;I?ition to boulevards, the 1916 map also shows begun in Riverview Park, directed by designs inspired by new parks that were brought into the system aftoerthe Cleveland but completed by William R. Adams, another important figure in the development of Omaha's parks.. Born in Ireland and trained as a landscape gardener by his father, Adams was hired to serve as the first Superin tendent of Parks in 1889 and. held that position for more Hanscom Park; 1924 than twenty years. In 1894, Dr. Miller completed his five-year term on the Board of Park Commissioners, and H. W, S. Cleve land, in poor health, also ended his affiliation with the Omaha Commissioners. Although their· official involve ment with the Board was relatively short, Miller and Cleveland left as their legacy the foundation of a park system that would serve Omaha well through years of , I growth and change. early '90s. Kountze and Deer parks - small parks sited on boulevard routes - were added just before the turn of Growth of the System the century, with Curtiss Turner Park entering the system The historic map which forms the basis ofthe park and in 1902. Six years later, in 1908, the Commissioners boulevard system tour that follows was produced in 1916 wd"uld accept a monetary donation to purchase the lake for Omaha's newly established City Planning Commis shore property that would become Levi Carter Park. A sion. This map was selected because it best presents the major park at this location was n~t anticipated by the system in its most finished state relative to the plans con Commissioners in their early plans; however, the proper- . ceived by H.W.S. Cleveland and the Board of Park Com. ty's location allowed for its integration into the system missioners in the early 1890s. through parkway links to Florence Boulevard. 12 F 13 In the decade ofthe teens, the City would first add A Tour of the Park and Boulevard Mercer Park along the Bemis-Fontenelle corridor. In System 1915, Omaha's annexation of South;Omaha would lead to the aquisition of Spring Lake and fiveother smaller park To provide a clearer picture ofthe early character ofthe properties.,Wllhough it appears that there were early system, the 1916 Planning Commission map is presented attempts to link several of these properties to the existing in its original form: no attempt has been made to reflect system, such connections were never realized. the changes in the system that have occurred since its Ironically,'other houlevard links never completed publication: Most importantly, while the map does not , ' were those first contemplated' by Cleveland and the Com- show the principal gaps left in the boulevards,by the missioners. Certainly the link that received the most building of the Interstate, when trav~lin'g,the system, the attention over the years' was the proposed connection breaks in Lincoln and Deer Park Boulevards can be hetween Hanscom and Elmwood. In their 1893 report, bridged by following 30th Street and Vinton Street, the Commissioners stated the expectation that this boule respectively, It should also be noted that in some vard would be ready for use within a year. However, as instances the map aniiciJates boulevard routes that later, late as 1917, Park and Recreation Department Superin when built; would follow somewhat different paths. A tende\lt J. B. Hnmmel in his yearly report would still reproduction of the complete 1916 map can be found speak confideotly about a proposal to bridge this gap in ,inside the back cover. Note: All maps are oriented with the system. North at the top ofthe page. Another boulevard proposed in the late teens was the In addition to the map, photographs have been in River Drive project outlined in the 1919 City Planning cluded that show the parks arid boulevards over a span of Commission Report, City Planning Needs of Omaha. years, dating from 1909 to about 1942. Although the text Envisioned as a parkway along the Missouri River, from focuses on the early history df each park and boulevard, Fontenelle Forest to north ofthe City Waterworks, the corresponding photographs were not in mo~t case~, readi project elab()rated on the original Cleveland plan by ly available; when possible, an effort was made to'select , incorporatillg portions ofFlorence Boulevard and images that capture some facet of the history discussed in Riverview Park. Only a part ofthe River Drive was real the lext ized:the construction ofPershing Drive north from Font The descriptions and photographs that follow present erielle Boulevard, and Gifford Drive between Riverview, only limited glimpses of the ever-changing shape of Spring Lake, and Mandan Parks are the results of tIie Omaha's early public landscape. Through this tour, you 1919 plan. will find that the winding cinder paths that were the first In the early 1950s, the bUilding of the Northwest boulevards have been covered over by straight concrete Radial Highway would cause a rift in the parkway net streets, clipped grass has replaced clumps of shrubbery, work hetween Fontenelle and Happy Hollow Boulevards. and swimming pools now substitute for wild lagoons. The building of the Northwest Radial foreshadowed the Yet, much evidence of the foundations of our early parks massive Interstate Highway projects ofthe early 1960s aQil boulevards still remains, We hope that this guide - projects that would fracture the boulevard connections will help make this layer ofhistory more clearly visible. and reverse the system's history ofcontinuous growth. 14 15 Riverview Park Riverview Boulevard Consislapt with H. W. S. Cleveland's premise that parks should' b;;:located in ar~asbefore they, were built up, the Commissioners allocated funds from the 1891 bond issue to purchase park land in the city's southern reaches. For its south-~ide park, the Bpard selected a piece ofproperty on the Missouri River shore in an undeveloped region between Omaha and South Omaha. Local residents were not at first happy with the Commissioners' choice, find ing it too far from their homes and so hilly that "the land could not support a table on four legs."Difficulties also arose with property,owners over the terms ofpurchase, and the city had to'use its power ofeminent domain,to acquire the initial parcel Of park land in 1894. Additional tracts were subsequently added to increase the park to over one hundred acres by 1899. Although Clevelandhimself approved of the site on u I the river, he wasn't sure how to design a park that gave i I I the effect of "rural tranquility and graceful beauty" in "I sight of the Missouri, "that turbid and untamable stream." OO~[l I In the end, the landscape architect did not have to con tend with the problem; his health failed and he could no longer continue his work in Omaha. Long-time Park Superintendent W. R. Adams prepared the park's designs that featured a lagoon and winding drives. VirtuaIly from its beginnings as a park, the Riverview Riverview Park Lagoonj 1939 Bear Pili Riverview Renamed "Riverview Boulevard" in 1913, the wind Parkj 1928 ing road was originally built to connect the park's north entrance with Bancroft Street, forming the first leg of the Southeast Boulevard, which later was extended along Bancroft to 11th Street, and along 11th to about Mason. These additional stretches became known as Bancroft . Boulevard and Bellevue Boulevard; although it appears that they received little improvement andlemained "boulevards" primarily in name'oIlIY: ) Riverview Parki 1911 ' Riverview Parkj 1917 '.'J. tra~t has had an association with zoo activities. The 1896 Park Commissioners report notes the first addition of a collection ofanimals to the park, including the purchase of a moose ($150), a bear ($25) and an odd expense incurred for "Moving fish" ($1). Over subsequent years more of the property was turned over to the zoo's use; in 1964 the tract was leased to the Omaha Zoological Soci ety as the site for the Henry poorly Zoo. After work began on Omaha's first parkway, Florence Boulevard, the next branch in the system sprouted from the city's south ernmost park propertY; the Riverview tract. In 1895 the land for the boulevard was acquired through condemna tion and was turned over to the. Park Commissioners for improvement as the Southeast Boulevard. In the early l890s, this boulevard may have been contemplated as the link between Hanscom and Riverview parks, but later in the decade that connection was established further south. 18 19 .. [)eer~~rk~Deer Park· Boulevard Springl.ake Park In;l~~~i~~(~it;CoUnci1 passed Ordinance No. 4372 ",~iFM~fl~rFd"thF ~ecessity of appropriating certain .... p~yatF.l'w~erty and lands for the use of the city of Oma- ha, forthF~urpose ofmaking an addition to the public . p~~s,parl,,'!ays and boulevards." What follows is a four pageli~ting oflegaldescriptions of parcels of land, lots, andpieces onots that together cut asWath between Riverview and Hanscom Parks. Thisdocument represents an early chapter in the official history of the Central Boulevard, the connector that was intended to link the _~r_~~enl',s_'_'i~siqe" patks,~ncluding' Hans8om, ~iverview andBeltlis.. . .' The~outhernmost portion of the Central Boulevard, A'efeired>to as the South Central Boulevard, was described iIi an 1898 Park Commissioners report: "It will be 150 feet wide, excepting between Seventeenth and Twentieth streets,\vhere it widens inwa small park of twelve acres, enclosing a deep ravine, covered with a dense growth of forest trees." , This widened area of the boulevard ...;- later enlarged ' further - was named Deer Park, presumably d~e to the fact that it was carved from land in the Deer Park Addi tion, an area of steep terrain and thick vegetation that was likely a popular home for deer. The South Central boulevard was dedicated and opened for travel in 1901; that section ofparkway bet ween Riverview Park and the Union Pacific and Burling ton tracks at Vinton and 27th was renamed Deer Park Boulevard in 1913. In the late 1960s the State of Nebraska's Departrtient Deer Park Boulevard; 1912 I Spring Lake Park: to some extent by landscape, architects" with the expendi 1924 ture of about$30,000 forimprovements. In 1892 South Omahans were angered by the land company's building of a seven-foot fence around the property, closing the park off to' pUblic use: After battles with residents, the company sold part 'of the land for building lots, but agreed to keep a portion op~llforthe public. Fora!",riod, CJmaha Park Commissioners eyed "Syn dicate Par1<,,-aS Spring Lake was commonlY,known for the she ofasollth-side park. Because the land was . within thecorporat~ limits of South Omaha, acquisition became acothplicated matter"and the:Board settled instead on the Riverview tract. When South Omaha was Pavlllon at Spring annexed itd915, the city)purchased the park land and Lake'Park: 1931 Spring Lllkecatheinto the Omaha systerrt. Omalla ~so assunledownership of five other parks throughth~ anneutionof S SWlmml.ng Pool at Spring Lake: 1921 the group 'of original owners (or "syndicate," as first incorporated) organized into the South Company in 1887, the land was "developed 22 23 Hanscom Boulevard Hanscom Park City officials may have been overly optimistic when they passed an ordinance declaring Central Boulevard between Riverview and Hanscom parks "open for public travel" in 1898. Property acquisition for the route was not complet ed for at least another decade, when the gap between Arbor Street and Hanscom Park was closed by donations ofland along 32nd Street. The area to the south ofHanscom Park was slower to develop as a residential districtielative to land on the oth er three sides ofthe park; however, the completion of the boulevard from' Argor Street spurred hom~-b~ildhlg~?U~ ofthe park. The Commissioners report f()rI9()9~ljserV¢s" '\,.:, -",' , :,: :-:': ,':', "\"i,:,,:::::';\::':":,',:~:,,'r::':':,";:, i. ". , '-:\ :'\: that "the opening of th¢~0~le ar~i~1?~7r~···3~~\ . 'mlide an ideal residenc~se2ti~~f?rp.f?f!i..~3?S~~~;~?i ·.ii takes them to South O~aI;~''''';.;;i;.~fY;;<;.;;/''? . i As the report huplies,iii addition to iheip'ecreational function, boulevards were valued as expedient transit routes. According to H'w. S. Cleveland, the diago~al path ofa boUlevard could save the traveler time as well as the monotony ofpassage down a straight pity stt:eet. In their 1897 report, the Commissioners looked ahe~d to a park way that would tie together scattered neighborhoods in the city's southeast district with South Omaha and "all the territory lying to the north and west of Hanscom park," noting that the boulevard would be "the only possible Ice Skating In Hanscom Park; 1915 roadway with a traversable grade connectin& these parts About twenty-five yeats earlier, property for the park of the city." had been donated to the City by early Omaha settlers, Later, when the City Council passed an ordinance Andrew J. Hanscom and James Megeath. "At the time of clarifyinr the boulevard system's confusing nomenclature the donation," Omaha historians James W Savage and (South E~J~, WesLCentral and North West, for example), John T. Bell report."it was extremely rough, covered by that portion of the South Central boulevard between hazel brush and natural forest trees, situated in an inac Arbor Street and Ed Creighton Avenue was designated. cessible'and uninviting portion ofthe 'city, then but "Hansco~ Boulevard.'" , sparsely settled." . . In 1889 and 1890 Cleveland was 'paid $913.30 for Flower beds and plans to improve the rough tract ofland. Although the conservatory In ;,,: Hanscom Park; 1917 landscape architect's drawings have'been lost, design ele ments that were evidently part ofhis original plans have Survived. The 1892 CoJrimissioners report remarks that "a belt ofpine trees was planted on the northwest side of the park which wben grown will have a charmingeffecl. : '- ' . .' ),.. '" ' ,This northwest portion ofth"P'\l"~since being d"corated with flowers is beCOlllingtlip~altractiY7"'':l1l!s~,,,I,?f pines ~nd flO",er &aI'd,,€~'" .. 'utit~,~JhanJs~me ness orthe park today;; .,-" In his book Omaha Memories, Ed Morearty recalled Hanscom Park prior to its occupation by the Park Com missioners: "the only ornaments worthy ofnote in the park up to 1890 were two cadaverous bald eagles." Over the park's east entrance, the author reports, was an arch~d sign' that read, "Nature Designs and Art Improves." Morearty further observes that "ifnature in .its crude form ever needed the touch of art, that park certainly did." The Park Com'!'issioners evidently concurred with. Lily pond In Hanscom Morearty's assessment: the improvement ofthe Hanscom Park; 1909 . .', ,..... ,-' .. ,', \ tract was one of the first projects tilketi on by thenewly formed Board. In the summer of 1889 they assigned the design work to H.W.S. Cleveland, and. according to one Com mission publication, Hanscom Park was "radically change ed in plan and very greatly improved...under his trained hands." The 1898 Commissioners reportdescribes the results ofhis work: "Two lakes, a cascade, eXlellsive flower beds, two and one-halfmiles ofmacadamized roadway, fountains and a magnificent grOwth offorest trees make this the only finished park in th.e city." , 26 27 Turner Boulevard Turner Park The report,,'of the Board of Park Commissioners for 1897 commenis ihat a notable feature of the year was dona- tions oflands by "public spirited citizens...indicating a growing interest in our parks." Mentioned among them was the "generous donatio~ of Mrs. Charlotte M. Turner of thiry-two lots in blocks No 1. and 2. Summit Place, fur parks and boulevard purposes." This donation greatly increased the prospects for the system's Central Boule vard, later called the West Central Boulevard - the con" nectfng link between Hanscom and Bemis parks. Turner Park; 1915 After the tum of the century, the land d,onated by Mrs. Turner was developed as CurtisS Turner Park with the boulevard running ~ongits eastern edge. The son of Charlotte and her husband Charles, a real estate develop er, Curtiss Turner waS a civil engineer who died in an 1898 avalanche in Alaska. It appears that after his death, the Tumers requested thattheirland donation be used as a park to memorialize their son. Through condemnation proceedings, additional land for the boulevard was assembled and the West Central connector between Hanscom altd Bemis was officially opened for use in 1902. The portion of the We§t CentraL parkway extending from Woolworth Avenue to Dodge Street was, named Turner boulevard in 1913, honoring the first land donor. 28 ,Lincoln Boulevard, Bemis Park Mercer Park and Mercer Park Boulevard The 1889 Bemis Park subdivision plat shows Lincoln Boulevard winding through the southern portion ofthe res idential suburb between 32nd Streel and Pleasant Street, now 38th Street. The road borders an area designated "Public Park" on the map; this is thp ravine that wassoon to be developed by the Park Commissioners as Bemis Park. The Bemis Park addition was the city's first subdivi View of the Clarinda Apartments from Turner Park; 1915 sion to be laid OUt wi~ a curving street pattern that con fonned to the lay of the land, as opposed to the rule ofthe This idea of small parks located at points along the rectangular block, or gridiron plan. boulevard system w'as consistent with what we know of The landscape architect Alfred Edgerton ofNew York the Cleveland plan. In fact, in his first report to the Oma , '. was';esponsible for the subdivision's design. His work ha Commission in 1889, the landscape architect stressed appealed to H.W.S. Cleveland and the first Park Commis the need for small parks, recommending "the appropria sioners: they incorpo:ated, theroa~\nto their plan for the tion at occasional intervals ofone or more blocks to be i Central Boulevard, the link betwe,en Bemis and Hanscom reserved as small parks easily accessible to those that Park. Later the sif¥Ufi"ait~e of Li~<:oln Boulevard w~ need them." "Ideally," Cleveland continued, "these parks acknowledged by eitending the name to the stretch of would be linked to the boulevards." boulevard &t\\ie~ri.Dodge aqd 32nd Street. A large pOl:tion The block-long open area along Tumer Boulevard at ofthis boulevard was obliterated in the building ofI-480 Leavenworth Street (now called Leavenworth Park) was - ouly the portion between 30th Street and i\1ercbr Park another example ofa small park ofthis type. Called the road remains intact. "Su!Jken Gardens," this rectangular parcel was acquired around 1910 and later received its name from below street-grade ornamental flower beds. Similarly, building upon the idea of boulevards as Portion 01 West Cen~ tral Boulevard. later linear parks, the land that is now Dewey Park - on Tum to become Lincoln er Boulevard between Famam 'and Leavenworth Boulevard; 1913 Streets '- was also acquired around 1910. Like Leaven worth Park with its ball diamonds and play equipment, Dewey Park has beeq appropriated for more structured types ofrecreational activities that RW.S. Cleveland could uot have envisioned. In 1889 the Bemis Land Company donated to the Board of Park Commissioners a six-acre tract ofunbuild ,able ground within the Bemis Park subdivision. The tract, I 30 31 Fallin Bemis Park, before drainage; early 19005 Bemis Park;1916 containing a steep ravine and creek, was covered with native trees and brush. The Commission purchased about three additional acres from the Bemis Company, and in 1893 H.W.S. Cleveland was paid $200 to complete park designs. Cleveland determined that the ravine could be filled in to create a larger area of usable ground, but \ ...., instead recommended to preserve the natural, picturesque features of the tract, including a great number ofexisting elm, linden and hackberry trees. As work began on the development ofthe park, a conflict arose between then-Mayor Bemis, owner of the Bemis Land Company, and the Park Commissioners con cerning the park boundaries,' Bemis felt that the construc tion of Lincoln Boulevard encroached UPOl) his land;he also wanted the ravine filled in. A battle was waged in the press with Bemis bemoaning his gift of land, and Cleve land countering that if his plans were altered, "1 should 32. not allow my name to be used in connection with the Mercer, prominent Omaha physician,street railway enter improvement ofthe parle." , priser and rew estate developer. Dr. Mercer built an , A compromise w!!S stn:ck, and In the end, th~ p';;k imposing family home at 40th and Cumlng Streets In the wa~ ,*,veloped accoJ1ling to the landscape architect's ,,><} early 1880s; he was also an officer in ,the Bemis Park plans:'Today; key elements ofthe original designs have'>}' Land Development Company; developer ofthe Bemis been lost: the lagoon has been removed and ext:n~Ive<' Parl> subdivision lying immediately, to the east ofCaroline shrubbery has been replaced with sod. Nevertheless, Mercer Parle. , Clevel,and's decision t1> retain the site's steep topography Connecting with Lincoln B6ul~;'ard on the east, Mer has benefitted the park by distancing it from nearby Cum cer Park Road sweeps through the, park to join Mercer ing Street. Boulevard. The boulevard t&rnin~tes at 38th Street. To The property now occupied by Caroline Mercer park connect with the next link in the system, John Creigh-ton ,and Mercer Park Boulevard was donated to the, City in Boulevard, one . travel); through land now,...owned by. the 1912 by'the S.D. Mercer Company. The four acres ofpark Metropolitan Utilities District, originilIly the site of the land were conveyed to the City under the condiiion that city's Walnut Hillwaterworks and reservoir built in 1881. 39th Street between Cuming and Nicholas would b~201li· pleted as part ofthe boulevard system within nine months. Conditions ofthe deed specified the route oJ'the porii6lloi' the boulevard that extended througb the park, and even, spelled .out the paving materials for the boulevard. ",' The deed also designated that the park portion ofthe donation be known officially as Caroline Mercer Pari Mercer Park Road; 1926 , 34 35 Creighton Boulevard Paxton Boulevard From,infonnation contained in the 1907 Park Conunis sione~/""nnual,Repor!, early plans for extending the boulevard system north from Bemis Park called for the coristlJ1ction of a boulevard, along 33rd, Street to Mme! Park, with a second segment branching from Bemis north west to Fontenelle, Ciearly, this proposal was never real ized, but a modified version of the plan began to take shape around 1910 with the development of John A. Creighton Boulevard. Extending from Hamilton Street on the edge ofthe old Walnut Hill Reservoir north to Lake along the fonner 37th Street, John A Creighton Boulevard winds east to Bedford where it follows 32nd north to Sahler. Land need ed for the two-mile parkway was acquired through con~ _ demnation proceedings initiated in 1910 and generally completed in 1912. While Omaha's earlier boulevards moved through areas ahead of building development, in' the case of this boulevard, anumber of houses were taken to make room for the roadway. Known for a brief time as HigWand Boulevard, John A. Creighton Boulevard was given the name of the pio neer Omaha businessman and philanthropist in 1913 six years after his death - in part, perhaps, to recognize the contributions of his land company in furthering the development of the parkway system. The John A Creighton Real Estate & Trust Company donated tracts for Hanscom and Lincoln Boulevards; it appears that the company also may have been involved in advancing the system north ofBemis Park. Ofparticular interest on this boulevard, is the route of the roadway as it travels through what is now Adams Park. As a concession to modem, higher speed travel, the hairpin curves of the original switchback have-been straightened, but the roadway path is still discernible, though now covered by sod. About a year after the City Council took action to set in motion the building of the north-south section ofthe North Central Boulevard, the Council passed an ordinance 36 declaring the need to take land to cornplete the east,west Fontenelle Park portion ofthe route, from Sahler Street to F()I~tel@lIle Fontenelle Boulevard Park. By August of 1912, property was secllred , . route '''Vas declared ready for improvement. This 108-acre tract of high rolling hills northwest of the WHen the system of bOlJie\'ard nornenclalture city's original center serves as an example of the early changed in 1913, this stretch was named Paxton, for plo Park Commissioners' foresight in planning ahead for neerbusinessman Wllliarn Paxton.·Settling in Omaha in future generations. Land for the park was purchased, in the 1860s, Paxton had ~xtensive business and realestate 1893 with $90,000 in funds from th¢Board's first bond interests in Omaha-primary among t/Jem waShisi~t; . issue, despite protests from cltizen.s'"vho felt that the tract volvemeilt in the development ofthe Uilion Stockyards. was located too far from the city. H.W. S. Cleveland Together with John A. Creighton Boulevard, Paxton advised the Board on the selection of the site and in 1892 Boulev~rd forms a link between Bemis and .Fontenelle .was paid $1650 for plJUls for the tract's redeSIgn. In the Parks th~t serves as a memorial to two of the clty'smost same year, the park was named to coirimemorate the Chief influential 19th century citizens. of the Omaha Indians, Logan Fontenelle. In addition to Paxton and Creighton, In 1912 the city Soon after the property's acquisition, a ~u.m?erof acquired through Its powers ofeminent domain land tree~~ere planted, but few survived t~" dro~!\?toffhe needed for three other major links in the parkway sys- mid-1890s. Further efforts t6 improve. fhftra~t\V~~~ . tem. Major work on extending and Improving the boule deterred, according to the)898 B0lU'dofSOllUlli.s~io~~rs vards would continue thro.ughoutthe teens, fueled by tjle.> report, "on account oflack of ftlnd~ Fontenelle Park golf coursej 19~!, .I! The Fontenelle tract remained essentially pastureland for another decade, until city growth expanding to the northwest created a demand for the property's Improv- manto i 38 39 FOlitenelle Park; 1918 ) ,Pavilion at Fontenelle Park; 1942 ! ,:':>:;".,:::'>:'- . ;~;~lnl.the'COmmiSSiOners refocused their attention .,P'1th~.r8~!~nell~ property, initiating a program of park b'1i(~i~~afli"ities.that included grading, road construc- .' .!i?~~~g t~~layingy~t of a golf course. As a result of this .~8*,~~t.?J?l'P11t~~~lle could be described by Park and ~5~i~~t1?#p5~~5n; SupertendentJ. B. Hummel as ';g11e'?t~~m?~t'~op~iar and best patronized parks in the syste~."t~~;~ll'.the golf course, it is not known Whether park improvements followed aspects of the "designs that Horace Cleveland had produ~ed for the prop- .1 . erty nearly twenty-five years earlier. ..! To begin to bridge the long expanse between the city's westernmost parks - Fontenelle and Elmwood the Park Commissioners in 1908 acquired land for what they termed the "outer" or Northwest Boulevard. This l50,foot strip ofpublic property commenced at the junc- , 41 tion of Grant Street;Military Avenue and Elmwood Park parallel with Military for about700 feet, then headed due north straight to Fontenelle Park. Secured througheini" In an initial report to the Park Commissioners in 1889, nent'\:!(:lPJeain at a cost of$16,000, the parkway wll$lajd Horace Cleveland explained his general prinCiples of out ~n laftd adjacent to ihe city limits that, for the moSt urban park planning, including .his conviction that a part: had riot yet been divided by lots, blocks andstreets. "great central park" was a necessary component of a OffiCially named Fontenelle Boulevard in 1913, this. park comprehensive park system. Such apark, Cleveland said, way would later join w1th Happy Hollow Boulevard to needed to be ofconsiderable size to shut out City sights complete the route to Elmwood Park. and provide "the refreshment ofruta! scenes." The section of boulevard leading north from For Omaha, Clevdand advised that a tract ofno less Fontenelle Park to join Miller Park was not acquired by than five hundred acres be. secured to meet the needs of the City until the mid-teens. The entire length was initial the City's rapidly increasing populace. With an eye ly known as Belvedere Boulevard, but a 1917 city ordi toward future land vJ.ues and pattems ofcity growth, the nance changed the name of the segment of parkway from landscape architect further specified that the tract be Ames to Curtis Avenue (at 36th Street) to Fontenelle. located at a central point far to the west ofalready dense.- . ! . "'ly populated areas. Boulevard. . ..•.. 'r "Broad parkings and pleasant homes set bllckll;;';;;'g I Soon after receiving Cleveland's report, the Com- the trees"- this description ofFontenelle Boulevard in .. I missioners accepted a donation of fifty-five acres alo~g 1926 still captures the character of the boulevard tOdaY: \ I Leavenworth Street that tiet the~epqrtis description for the -':,~ ",,-,:-. 'l C'-'·"-'.':. ,Elmwood Park gol1 coursej 1921 South entrance near Leavenworth Street; Fontanelle Boulevard at Bedford Street; 1930 1924 I I 42 43 - ,1 Elmwood Park Auto- -- camp; 1920 siting of the large central park. Three and one-hillf miles from the business district, the parcel was described in the Omaha Bee as a "wild and romantic place," containing a wooded ravine that followed the course ofa small stream. "There arer'.11 manner of shady nooks in this dell," the description continued, "and some ofthe largest forest trees in this section of the country are to be seen in ito" Most impressive among the trees were the huge elms that prompted the Commissioners to give'the park the name Elmwood. Especially in its early years, the Park Board received'" numerous offers ofproperty for sale or by donation: land developers knew that proximity to pari<: land was au" au"00' tageous in speeding the sale of lots and raising their val ue. The Board refused many offers, but accepted the wood tract because ofits location, scenic advantages opportunities for expansion. From the beginning, me Board envisioned that the donated parcel would serve as the nucleus for a larger park; thus several years later when the group oflandown- ' ers who d6nated the first tract offered additional,adjacent '4.; acres for sale, 156 were purchased for $135,000. In seek- ing City Council approval for the purchase proposal, President Miller said it was the Board's intent to make Elmwood serve as the "grand park" for several years. Dr. Miller.,,- optimistically planning ahead for a city of five hundred thousand inhabitants - hoped to later obtain a ' tract ofone thousand acres further west. , As with me otherparks acquired during the Park Board's first years, Horace Cleveland was commissioned to draw up a set ofplans for the improvementof the Elm wood tract. According to newspaper accounts, in 1892 he outlined plans to the Board that featured a seven-acre 44 - lake (which the Board wanted enllar~:edt6tw"rit)I);a Happy Hollow Boulevard riage concourse that traveled to the and additional drives and walks that thn,ad"d tIlfOllgh With the south branch of Fontenelle Boulevard secured in wooded slopes. Although Elmwood has 1908, the next stage in closing the gap between Elmwood change over the past one hundred years, it and Fontenelle Parl Sunken Gardens; 1924 46 47 Miller Park Belvedere Boulevard Along with Fontenelle, Riverview, and a portion of Elm wood, Miller Park was added to the system'with funds from the 1891 bond issue. Unlike theother park sites, which were sought for their scenic advantages, this seven ty-eight-acre tract consisted ofa level com field cut by several ravines. Because the site offered no commanding' views nor other interesting natural attributes, some city officials objected to the purchase. However, the property's location near to the route of Florence Boulevard, and the prospect of low improv'J'lent costs convinced the City Council to approve the purchase ofthe tract for $75,000 in 1893. In the same year, plans\Ver~Ilrepared for the park's d~sign'lJy H.W. S. ClevellU1d,~d~oon afterward, grading, Miller Park; 1931 Miller Park; 1926 J tree-planting and construction of a lake were begun; between 1897 and 1898 it is reponed that more thall live thousand trees were planted in the park. Although Clevelapd's plans have been lost, it is thought thatareasof the park Ii~ve retained aspects ofhis original designs;t!l~ stands ofpine, lagoon with an island, and curving drives are features typical ofhis design vocabulary. In 1893 the Board n.med the park in honor ofDr.• George L. Miller, the principal fOrce behind the establish" ment of the Board ofPark Commissioners and its lirst President. For many years the park was.known for Birch Drive, a roadway lined by paper birches that were· reportedly planted by Dr. Miller himself. iit:~ Miller Pa~; 1914 50 ,to the east. In 1884, a tract of land including the point"",as Florence Boulevard , platted as the Belvedere Addition, a name derrived from. Kountze Park an Italian word meaning "beautiful view," ", ,A proposal for a bo,ulevard through the Belved~re" " After three years of planning and a numper of false ~ " . area was ajscuss~d by the' Park Commissioners as early as starts, the city engineer set the stakes for Florence 1889, prece$ng theirp~rchaseofthe tracts that WOijl Florence Boulevard; 1938 The initial stretch of parkway was constructed north from Ames Avenue.to near the Parker tract (later Miller Park). AI!hough the boulevard's one-hundred-foot right of-way does not conform to H.W. S. Cleveland's two hundred-foot, standard for "ornamental avenues," a Park Commissioners report refers to payment made to the landscape architect for plans. It is not known how close- "Iy actual construction followed Cleveland's designs. In 1897 the section of the boulevard along 19th and, 20th Streets between Chicago Street and Ames was placed under the jurisdiction of the Park Commissioners. ,This roadway was improved by the addition of land and landscaping, but the existing linear road configuration was not altered. 52 53 Kountze Park lagoon; 1930 ) Following the bluff line alc;mg the Missouri, Florence Boulevard was laid out to afford fine views of the river ·f, 1..1. valley. Immediately upon its opening, the route became popular for recreational drives - first by caniageand bicycle, afterward by automobile. Because of its scenic, level course and the fact that the roadbed was not broken .up by streetrailway trackage, the boulevard was describ ed in 1895. as "the only suitable driveway in the city." . Later, lined by tall'sycamores and attractive homes, a length of Florence Boulevard near Miller Park becarlle knownas'~The Prettiest Mile." Kountze Park's eleven ~cres became public property . as It direct result ofthe 1898 Trans-Mississippi and Inter- , national Exposition, Omaha's version of a world's fair that atfracted more than two million visitors. The site selected for the fair was a large tract of land north of the city owned by Omaha pioneer banker and real estate develope; Her man Kountze; City officials wanted to assist the Exposi tion Board indeYeloping the grounds, but state law prohib ited the allocation ofCity funds for this purpose. Ifthe property were dedicated park land, however, public money .could be spent by the Park Commissioners to improve the property as a city park. Taking that approach, in 1897 Herman Kountze's '11§~~~~iijJ I I United Real Estate and Trust Company conveyed to the ~~U.RR.R.c;'~ City for the consideration of$1, twin parcels of about five """=", It and one-half acres each between 19th and 20th, and 20th '''''l-I'''Th"..,.... ,.,t , , 1,1 55 Levi Carter Park, Carter Boulevard Cornish Boulevard The oxbow lake that formed north ofthe city when the Missouri River changed course in J 877 - Cut-Off Lake, as it was first known - soon became valued as a com mercial and recreational resource. The South Omaha meatpackers Swift and Armour were anfong those who located ice cuning and warehousing operations along the lake's northern banks. Attracted.by its water-related recre Kountze Parkj 1913 ational advantages, a beach resort with a large boat house and two-story pavilion, a Rod andGun Club, and a and 21 st streets, Pinkney to Pratt. The terms of the deed YMCA camp had ail settled on the'lake shores by 1906. required that the parcels be forever used as a public park, Omaha industrialist Levi Carter, owner ofthe Carter known as Kountze Park, and that the City spend $5,000 to White Lead Works in nearby East Omaha, became inter- improve the property dUring 1897, the first year of a two-< - '. ested in Cut-Off Lake for somewhat differentreasons.As year period of use granted to the exposition company. The ' his wife Selina Carter noted, "He passed this lartddaily in Commissioners exceeded the agreed-upon sum and spent . going to and fromhis business, and was among the first to about $35,000 improving its land and roadways leading,to- see its desirability for p.trk and boulevard purposes." In the property. 1908, three ¥ears after Carter's death, his widow donated .The park parcel constituted only a small portion ofthe $50,000 to the city to acquire lakefront land for a public Trans-Mississippi's total ofnearly two hundred acres, yet park memorializing her husband. Tenns of the donation across the Park Commissioners' ground stretched the fair's stipulated that Cut-Off Lake - also at that time known as main attraction, the Mirror Lagoon. A reflecting pool lined by impressive, Renaissance-inspired buildings, the lagoon entertained exposition visitors with cruises in Venetian gondolas. After the closing of the fair, the Board, according to Carter Lake; 1917 its 1898 report,, was left with "two iron bridges, an artesian wel1...a quantity of trees and shrubs, a macadamized boulevard...and the park land." One year later, the Board reported its intent to remove the bridges, fill the lagoon and grade the site in preparation for the park's future development. Evidently, building debris remaining from the demolition ofthe fair's temporary plaster structures was used, in part, to fill the Mirror Lagoon. In 190I, some rather large expenses for "filling and grading for lagoon I, and artesian wells" were paid out ofthe park fund; a pair ~ Carter Lake' Municipal y Bea,ch; 1929 of smaller ponds was apparently fashioned from this '~ rearrangement ofthe site. The lagoons, stocked with fish, remained a feature ofthe park as late as the 1930s. , 56 :'j Lake Nakoma - be officially named With the prior acquisition ofMiller, Fo"te'lell"a:nd Kountze parks, the Park Commissioners were to add,!? their holdings in the northern sector of'tlie city; Neverih~less the Boarq welcomed Selina Carte,c'sOfl;er;, ,1\ number of south-side citizens and several however" objected to the rroposal, which req'uir"d City provide matching funds to develop the projperty. protesters felt that City money would be better spent improving existing park properties. A 1908 Commissioners report states that "by the acquisition of this park Omaha is given a beautiful body of water with possibilities for aqua sports and recreation:: In the nearly two deca1es since Omaha's first parks were de veloped, more active forms ofleisure activity had become' popular. The board's interest in the lake property reflects this shift in attitude about the purpose of parks ~ from an earlier focus on the quiet enjoyment ofpicturesque scellery to a new emphasis on the provision of facilities for rriqre', active activities, such as swimming, golf, tennis and base; ", ball. In the same year that Selina Carter donated funds for Levi Carter Park, she married Edward J. Cornish, an Oma ha attorney who had served on thePark Commission since )896. After moving from Omaha in 1911 and until their deaths in the late 1930s, the Cornishes continued to play an active role in the development of Levi Carter Park through gifts ofproperty and funds for improvement pro MAP or jects. Two years after their donation ofLevi Carter Park, Edward and Selina Cornish deeded to the City for $1 a 250~foot strip ofproperty they had acquired between Carter Park on the easrand 16th Street on the west to serve as an entrance to the park. The corridor tied the new park to a major thoroughfare, but did not Iiilk it to the boulevard system. That connection was established when land for Carter Boulevard was secured by the City iIi 1910 through the condemn#!ion ,of property along the nort!) side of ,Grand Street ~o,;, th~ Par~to F!.or~nce Boulevard. Later, iR1930, the Cornlshesbought two additional , pieces of land on either side ofthe boulevard corridor to 58 16th Street. This land acquisition appears to have been Postscript' part of their attempt to complete a iong-held plan for a boulevard that would extend entirely around the lake. Like the clamor that first created public parks in Ameri Toward '1I1i~ end, the Cornishes also acquired, over anum can cities in the 1800s; today there is a cOlTesponding call ber ofyears, appr~ximately 140 acres on the Iowa side Of for the rehabilitation and restoration Of those same parks, Carter Lake. now a century or more old. Following in the wake of the In 1919 an Omaha World-Herald article announced movement to conserve old buildings, historic landscape the purchases Of Iowa lakefront land by Edward Cornish preservation is a relatively new field ~ one'that is just now finding ways to meet the particul~r challenges of restoring living landmarks. New York City's Central Park - the park that started the first Wave of interes] in urban park building - also inspired the preservation movement now spreading to othercities. In the early 1970s, public and private inter ests embarked on an innovative plan to restore portions of iflat public landscape to its original character. Comparable projects have now been completed in Philadelphia, Boston, Seattle, and in H.W.S. Cleveland's Roger Wil liams Park in Providence, Rhode Island. Carter lfike; 1920 We are fortunate to have in Omaha a parksystem with a similarly rich history. Th~ City o{Omaha's Parks arid Planning Departments have. long recognized,the importance of this resource and have worked hard to maintain it. Neighborhood and civic gtoups have been especially diligent in their advOcacy ofour older urban and O.c. Redick, the develOper of Sand Point Beach, a parks. private "bathing beach." Redick collaborated with the Nevertheless, conserving the historic character of our Cornishes in their efforts to reserve the lake for recreation parks and boulevards will be an increasingly challenging al purposes. With the purchases, Redick and the Cornishes endeavor as the system enters its second century. What , I together held title to the entire Iowa shore line, a situation we do now will determine if the history, in Omaha's older that would prompt the headline: "...Negotiations Assure parks is a legacy that will be lost - or. reclaimed for Boulevard Encircling Carter Lake." As lateas the 1940s, future generations. pl~s would describe "the newly projected Boulevard cir cuit around. the lake," but the encircling boulevard would remain unbuilt. Certainly, rna~yof the Cornishes' hopes for the park have been realized. Their work ofalmost thiry years was noted by the naming of the boulevard that they intended as the entrance to the park in their honor. 60 61 f i --- ... NEBRASKA --- CITY PLANNING COMMlSSl0N OMAHANEBR. MAP SnOWING pAJUG PLAYGROUNDS -AND SCHQOLPROPmrY