The Cultural
Landscape Foundation has named the Hartford Parks System to “Landslide,” its annual
list of culturally significant landscapes at risk of alteration or destruction.
According to
the organization, “Hartford is not only blessed with the first municipal park
(Bushnell Park, 1854) and first municipal rose garden (Elizabeth Park, 1904) in
America, it also boasts an unrivaled legacy of parks and boulevards that span
several decades of involvement of all three Olmsteds, ranging from small-scale
squares and greens (Barnard Park, c.1865) to large-scale municipal works such
as Keney Park (1896), the 693-acre career capstone of Charles Eliot’s tenure
with the Olmsted office. Today, with diminished municipal funds, these parks
are dying a quiet death.”
Beginning in the 1960s, disinvestment and deferred
maintenance have eroded and weakened the parks, but the problem is not only
economic. The elimination of the Hartford Parks Department and the division of its
responsibilities between the departments of Public Works (maintenance) and
Health and Human Services (recreational programs) has left a “void of vision.”
The foundation urges
the parks’ nonprofit friends groups to work together for the good of the system
as a whole. Above all, it calls for the development of “a clear compelling
vision of the public park system” to inspire public interest and involvement.
To start that
process, the Connecticut Olmsted Heritage Alliance (COHA) is planning to celebrate Frederick Law Olmsted Day with
a conference on Hartford
parks, to be held in April or May. The conference will be designed for city
officials and residents as well as landscape preservationists and those who
love urban parks. "We hope to get a lot of people who really use and
appreciate these parks involved, says Norma Williams, a landscape architect who
serves on the board of COHA.
For more
information, visit:
The Cultural Landscape Foundation, www.tclf.org
