The centerpiece of the Buffalo park system is Delaware Park, originally known simply as "The Park". 350 acres in size, it is one of the relatively few true parks Frederick Law Olmsted created; to Olmsted, only a very large, naturalistic site which would completely shield the visitor from the bustle and cares of the city could be considered a "park". It was also the first park for which Olmsted was given the opportunity to select the site to be used. In keeping with all of Olmsted's great parks, Delaware Park has three prime elements: a prominent water feature (the "Gala Water", now named "Hoyt Lake", of 42 acres formed by damming Scajaquada Creek), a large meadow of about 120 acres, and significant wooded areas. Located at what at the time was the outskirts of Buffalo, the park was crossed by only one city street. In a manner similar to his treatment of the traverse roads in New York's Central Park, he kept Delaware Avenue at a lower grade than much of the surrounding park, provided a viaduct to carry the park's carriage road above it, and shielded the park from it by thick plantings. Broad parkways connected this park with The Parade and The Front, the two smaller pleasure grounds of his original Buffalo design.
Olmsted's partner Calvert Vaux contributed the designs for the park's buildings and structures. He prepared plans for a boathouse (constructed in 1875, demolished in 1900), a large and highly detailed gazebo overlooking the lake (the "Spire House", constructed in 1875, lost sometime between 1901 and 1917), a dwelling and offices for the park superintendent ("The Farmstead"; constructed in 1875, torn down to provide zoo parking in 1950), a pair of elaborate covered seats to shelter park users waiting for boat rides on the lake (constucted in 1875, lost between 1917 and 1951), the Gala Water bridge at the western end of the park lake (constructed in 1874, demolished in 1890) and a large stone viaduct (built in 1874, replaced with a new viaduct in 1935), which carried the park carriage Concourse over Delaware street (now Delaware Avenue). In contrast to the elaborate Parade House at the Parade, and to a proposed (but never built) music stand for the Front, Vaux's structures for the Park were keyed to blending with the landscape. The Spire House was the exception, and its role was to provide a bit of whimsy which was also a hallmark of an Olmsted and Vaux design collaboration.
Much of Olmsted's design for Delaware Park was damaged by the use of the grounds for the Pan American Exhibition of 1901. The Vaux boat house was replaced by a larger and more prominently sited structure. Two large marble structures in the mode of the City Beautiful movement then sweeping the country were prominently sited within the park - the Historical Society building which served as the New York State pavillion during the exhibition, and the Albright (now Albright-Knox) Art Gallery. A municipal golf course was established on the meadow. A permanent zoological collection was established adjacent to The Farmstead, replacing the flock of sheep which had formerly grazed upon the park meadow. In the 1930s the zoo was considerably enlarged as part of a Works Progress Administration project.
The most significant and massive intrusion onto Omsted's design occurred about 1960, when an expressway was extended across the park, separating it into two sections and bringing the roar of traffic into the heart of the park. As a part of the construction, significant portions of the park lake were filled. The lake, long suffering from upstream pollution, became little more than an open sewer, and retained little of its Olmsted shoreline. An early 1980s effort to clean the lake further reduced the shoreline and tunnelled the pollution bearing waters of the creek underground past the park.
Recent attempts to restore the Olmsted design have made some progress, but also met with some resistance from competing interests. Progress has been made, and a heightened awareness of Olmsted's intentions fostered, but a great deal remains to be done before Delaware Park will again reflect the glories of its past.
© 1989-2007 Stanton M. Broderick
Delaware Park Photographs, 1902-1908.
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