Olmsted Parks Conservancy

The 'British Invasion' takes over Delaware Park at Party for the Parks –an indoor/outdoor, over-21 party, 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., featuring live music, incredible auctions, lots of great food and drinks at the Marcy Casino. This year's bands, headlined by the If's, will be on a floating stage right on Hoyt Lake. It's all overlooking one of the Best scenic views in Buffalo!Proceeds from this great event benefit the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy. Get your tickets today!

Generous outpouring of support!

Making Neighborhoods Matter

Annual Meeting - 2010 Year in Review

Why were there so many dead carp in Hoyt Lake?

Resources

Annual Report 2010 download here

Emerald Ash Borer threatens our Ashes! Read more, donate now to Save our Ashes! Read the official press release from the NYSDEC

Interested in a self-guided walking tour of South Park? Click here to download Kirshner and Kirshner's "A Walking Tour of Olmsted's South Park Arboretum"

Read about invasive species in the area.

Learn about our Olmsted Naturally committee and initiative to go green in our park management.

Riverside Park – River Rock Gardens Rehabilitation Project - read more

Learn more about our Maintained Meadow areas; click here for an overview.

First Annual Report from the Buffalo Parks Commissioners in 1869 - click here to read!

Directions

THE BUFFALO OLMSTED PARKS CONSERVANCY ANNOUNCES ARTIST SELECTED FOR MCKINLEY HIGH SCHOOL MURAL

SABRES GREEN TEAM TO PLANT TREES AT RIVERSIDE PARK

Peace Bridge Resolution

OLMSTED PARKS CONSERVANCY HONORS ITS FOUNDERS

Newsletters and Annual Report

ANNE HARDING JOYCE NAMED CHAIR OF OLMSTED PARKS CONSERVANCY

Upcoming Public Input Meeting on the Jesse Kregal Pathway Improvement Project in Delaware Park

First Niagara Presents: BPO Summer in the Parks

HSBC AWARDS $100,000 GRANT TO IMPROVE MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. PARK NEIGHBORHOOD

State of the Parks

Fall Community Tree Plantings

Fall Community Tree Plantings - Saturdays Oct., /Nov TBA, Olmsted Parks, 9 - Noon - must be 15+ to volunteer; call 838-1249 ext. 15

Olmsted Golf

2011 Olmsted Open Pro-AM Golf Tournament -

Upgrade to a members-plus season pass to enjoy free golf clinics, tee time reservation, free boating all season at Hoyt Lake, and more!

New in 2011

Power golf carts will be available to rent at both our Delaware Park and Cazenovia Park golf courses.

Locker rooms with locker availability will be available for rent at Delaware Park golf course, Parkside lodge and lockers for golf bags and misc. golf items will be for rent at the South Park golf house.

The 2011 Golf season will begin Saturday, April 30 (weather permitting) and runs through October 31st.

GOLF SEASON PASSES are AVAILABLE at our BOPC golf course golf houses at all three golf courses: South Park golf house, Cazenovia Park golf house, & Parkside Lodge golf shop in Delaware Park.

Golfers must bring:

City of Buffalo Resident Regular Golf Season Pass pricing

Non-Resident City of Buffalo Golf Season Pass Pricing

Hours of operation (once courses open, approx. April 29, 2011) are from 7AM to 7PM daily with the following exceptions:

Call 838-1249 ext. 19 with questions, or email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Passes are good for play at any of the three Olmsted courses: 18-hole Delaware Park Meadows Course on the Parkside section of the parks; or the 9-hole courses at Cazenovia Park and South Park in the city of Buffalo.

Golf Leagues and Tournaments/Outings Information

2011 Olmsted Park's Golf Camps, Clinics and Lessons

Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy Managed Golf Courses

- Click here for a full description of what the Delaware Park Golf Course has to offer you!

- Click here for a full description of what the Cazenovia Park Golf Course has to offer you!

- Click here for a full description of what the South Park Golf Course has to offer you!

Graphic Designer

The Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy seeks a graphic designer to build the brand and apply graphic consistency to all visual applications used by
management to articulate the exciting components of the historic Buffalo Olmsted Park System.

Conservancy Background

The Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy, now in its 32nd year, is an independent, 501(c)3 not-for-profit, membership-based, community organization. Our mission is to broaden awareness of, appreciation for, and investment in the Buffalo Olmsted Park and Parkway System in order to enhance, revitalize and maintain these historic parkland treasures for the benefit of current and future generations.

Over 135 years ago, Frederick Law Olmsted Sr. designed the park system in Buffalo for the purpose of bringing "nature" into the urbanized area by creating picturesque green spaces and opportunities for recreation. Today, the Olmsted park system spreads among six major parks interconnected by multiple parkways, circles, and smaller spaces. It is a valuable community and regional cultural asset. Buffalo's Olmsted parks and parkways are a natural, historic, recreational and architectural resource, listed on the local, state and national Registers of Historic Places.

For many years, the Olmsted parks suffered from lack of basic maintenance to support every day park use and insufficient long term capital improvements due to Buffalo's poor economic condition. The underfunded parks declined and became poorly maintained, unsafe places, where people did not wish to recreate or gather.

In 2004, in a groundbreaking agreement, the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy became the first not-for-profit organization in the country to assume full management and maintenance responsibility for operations of the entire 1200-acre Olmsted system. The Conservancy is passionately committed to providing clean and safe parks for all.
To better manage the parks, the Conservancy recently released its park’s Plan for the 21st Century. This document is the blueprint for rebuilding the parks and enhancing the entire community. The Plan provides recommendations for the park system and an implementation plan for each of the individual parks. As a result of the Conservancy’s efforts, in collaboration with community and public partners, the green spaces are now widely regarded as much improved and better maintained since the Conservancy’s takeover of the parks.

Project Description
The Conservancy is seeking proposals from Western New York area graphic designers to complete all the graphic design work, on a contract basis.

Work to include:
Review of existing Olmsted logo Graphic Standards
Review design elements from the park’s Plan for the 21st Century
Incorporate the above elements into various design pieces for Conservancy use including:

• Website
• Membership campaign pieces (mailer, web, email formats)
• Newsletter (email version, web and hardcopy)
• Brochures/flyers (both hard and soft copy) for:
o Volunteer Guild
o Programming
o Special events – Picnic in the Park, Gala, Party for the Parks, Olmsted Open Golf Tournament, and others
o Marcy Casino and other venue rental info
o Boating on Hoyt Lake
o Commemorative Gifting
• Posters for special events
• Postcards for community meetings, event Save-the-Date
• Signage for park users
• Program book- cover layout and inside page design for:
o Frederick Law Olmsted Gala
o Golf tournament
o Party for the Parks and other Olmsted events
• Capital Campaign proposal book and inside page
• Annual Report
• Other types of forms including golf registration subscriptions, booklets, auction cards, tickets, etc.
• Generic PowerPoint template to use for presentations
• Internal memos, letterhead, business cards, envelopes (that conform to new post office regulations)

Most of the above applications should be designed for web and hardcopy.
Designer will work closely with Olmsted Institutional Advancement staff.
Proofs will be required for all designs.
All approved designs will become the property of the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy.

Proposals:
Please submit proposals with the following information:
o Details/ history about your business
o Types of graphic design projects you have worked on
o How you propose to provide your ideas, samples, drafts and final artwork to the Conservancy
o The best way to contact you
o Why these design projects are exciting to you
o Cost per hour for Olmsted projects and expectation of hours per project
o Three business references required

Proposals due by Wednesday March 31st 2010
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Most graphic design projects have at least two weeks of work time prior to the
project’s due date, but situations may arise where more urgent turn-around is needed.
Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy reserves the right to reject any or all proposals.

If you have any questions, please contact Joy Testa Cinquino at (716)838-1249 ext. 17, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

It’s Tree Planting Time in the Olmsted Parks

Volunteers are needed to plant 600 trees this spring throughout Buffalo’s historic Olmsted Park System. As part of the Olmsted Parks Conservancy’s master plan, The Plan for the 21st Century, the Conservancy and volunteers will plant understory, flowering and canopy trees in April and May. Over the next decade, 10,000 new trees will be planted in Olmsted green spaces.

Tree-Care Training Workshop - free, open to all. Learn “who, what, where, when, how & why” to tree planting
Saturday, April 17^th
10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Parkside Lodge (84 Parkside Ave.,) in Delaware Park

Saturday, April 24^th
9:00 a.m. - noon
Delaware Park, Riverside Park and Front Park
Call 838-1249 ext. 33 to register

Saturday, May 1^st
9:00 a.m. - noon
Cazenovia Park and Martin Luther King, Jr. Park
Call 838-1249 ext. 33 to register

** Volunteers will be managed and supervised by Olmsted staff. Volunteers should come dressed for the weather (work boots & gloves). Volunteers should be in good physical condition. Volunteers will not use any power tools and should not bring any type of power tools. This volunteer activity may be physically demanding. All volunteers must be at least 15 years of age and sign a waiver before they can assist with the plantings. To register, call (716) 838-1249 ext. 33 or visit www.bfloparks.org.

Tree Plantings are sponsored by Olmsted ReLeaf, an Urban and Forestry Program Grant from the DEC and Entercom Radio.

The Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy is a 32-year-old, not-for-profit, independent, community organization that promotes, preserves, restores, enhances, and ensures maintenance of Frederick Law Olmsted-designed parks and parkways in the Greater Buffalo area now and for future generations. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Olmsted system in Buffalo is the first of its kind in the nation designed by America’s greatest landscape architect.

More Info: Joy Testa Cinquino, Olmsted Parks Conservancy 716-838-1249 ext. 17, 716-308-2361

Caterers

Delaware Boating

Olmsted Petition!! Call to Action - December 2009 - January 2010

• Calling Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown at 851-4841
o Tell him you want the city to negotiate a parks agreement with the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy as soon as possible

o Tell him that the work of the Conservancy is crucial to the resurgence of this city

o Tell him that the Olmsted Parks Conservancy has a track record for success in parks management and fundraising

o Tell him you want Clean and Green parks
o Ask him why he would want to change a good thing.

• Send letters to the media

• Continue to visit our website for more updated information.

Park System

In 1868, Frederick Law Olmsted and his partner, Calvert Vaux were invited to Buffalo, NY to design the first system of parks and inter-connecting parkways. See the Olmsted Park & Parkway System in Buffalo.

Olmsted believed that the rural, picturesque landscape contrasted with and counteracted the confining and unhealthful conditions of the crowded urban environment and served to strengthen society by providing a place where all classes could mingle in contemplation and enjoyment of the pastoral experience. He sought to screen his "pleasure grounds" completely from the intrusions of daily life by screening them with thick plantings along their borders, separating and excluding commercial traffic, and discouraging all usage of the grounds which were not in harmony with this goal. He also strove to bring the landscape as close to as much of the urban population as possible, so that all could benefit from it.

The Benefits of the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy

The motivating desire of the BOPC is to see the Olmsted parks continue to improve through restoration so the city also improves.

We are an avid supporter/believer that parks can be an engine for economic development for the City and the region. The Urban Design Project at UB has been able to document positive changes in assessed values of property around 5 of the Olmsted parks (all except MLK) in the last 5 years since the Conservancy took over management. 3 Have risen ahead of the city’s average (Delaware 76%, Front 45%, and Riverside 12.24% compared to 10% for the city). Frederick Law Olmsted after completing Central Park in NYC tracked real estate values around the park for 17 years to justify the $13 million spent on developing the park. In that span he found values increased by $209 million from 1856 to 1873.

Well maintained parks are active parks. Research has shown that people under 65 years old living near a park are healthier and have on average $250 less per year in health costs. The savings doubles for those over 65. This alone could have a major impact on the city. There are reports showing a decrease in childhood obesity, diabetes, and other conditions in those people who live near or are regular users of a park.

Well maintained parks attract “knowledge base” workers. They attract business development which helps create jobs. And parks attract tourists while historic parks attract heritage tourists. These are people who are interested in the history of a site. They tend to stay longer and spend more money than an average tourist.

Grants
The BOPC has built a very good track record with attracting grant money and reporting on the use of the grants. Currently we have been awarded approximately $4.5 million ready to be invested in the parks, however just over $3 million is on hold until a parks agreement is finalized. One agency that controls $750,000 of the grants awarded has added that they need to see at least 10 years of contract stability before they will proceed with the award.

Poverty Reduction
The Conservancy is very interested in serving the underserved. We have actively engaged the workfare program through Erie County to train those interested in the green collar jobs available through the parks as well as providing valuable life skills experience. Since 2004 we have trained over 1000 workfare clients, over 300 in the last year. Several have been recommended to the PIVOT program, a subsidized job training program. From there we have hire a number as seasonal zone gardeners with a few of those moving up to be Senior Zone Gardeners. These now are the supervisors of their areas and are training workfare and other PIVOT people. This is essentially free labor in the parks through the Conservancy. This program works to take people off the welfare rolls and train them for meaningful employment.

Since workfare is a NYS run program run through the county these programs are not available to the city. As a non-profit the Conservancy could work out a separate agreement with the County to keep these workers in the Olmsted parks.

These programs have allowed the Conservancy to hire a workforce that is 40% diverse.

We have merged the Inner City Youth Fan Club for Golfing into our programming. This is a program for inner-city youth to teach them golf which also teaches them life skills. The founder of the program, Major Hank Williams Jr., Retired, has documented that 80% of the kids that have gone through the program have gone on to college and graduated. With BOPC fundraising support this 15 year old program will go away.

Through an MOU with Joyce Wilson Nixon and her National Inner City Youth Organization, we were able to expand their summer tennis program from MLK to Delaware Park in conjunction with Microbiz to offer Nets to Net Worth. This program taught basic financial skills to tennis participants like how to open a bank account, how to balance a checkbook, and how to budget your money. This would go away without BOPC support.

Fundraising Support
Since 2004 the Conservancy has raised approximately $8 million to match dollar-for-dollar our government support, including:
• $1 million through foundations and grants
• $1.1 million through fundraisers including FLO Gala, Party for the Parks, Picnic in the Park and the Olmsted Open Golf Tournament
• $425,000 from corporate and business donations including from M & T Bank,
HSBC, Bank of America, Verizon and BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York
• $1.1 million has been raised since the contract began through our generous board of trustees
• $664,000 for Olmsted ReLeaf, after the October 2006 storm
• $1.2 million in Capital Campaign funds
• $132,000 from our Membership Campaign
• $725,000 from major donors and our Annual

Plan for the 21st Century
This is the 20 year master plan to restore, rebuild, and complete the Olmsted park system in Buffalo. It contains 300 projects totaling $428 million. The BOPC has started to find the money to fund these projects and is committed to finding most if not all of the money to complete the plan. Where else can you find an advocate to help rebuild and restore a major cultural asset. We have set a goal of raising $30 million in 5 years and are on a track to meet or exceed that goal.

Volunteer Support
Volunteers add a great component to the parks. In 2009 we have accounted for over 6000 hours in volunteer support for the Olmsted parks. That is the hourly equivalent of 150 additional full time workers. At an average $15/hour that’s a savings of $90,000 in labor costs not including benefits. We would most likely not be able to attract as many volunteers if we were not managing the Olmsted parks.

Smaller Parks

Parkways

The word “parkway” was actually coined by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux in their proposal for Central Park, and improved upon with their plan for the Buffalo Park System. The idea was not just to link city and suburban roads, but to have long green fingers extending into the city from large parks. Extremely wide medians were heavily planted with dense shade trees connecting the parks so users could travel throughout the system without leaving the park-like atmosphere. It was intended to be a relaxing experience with landscaped green spaces through populated, commercial, or industrialized areas.

Bidwell Parkway was named after Daniel Davidson Bidwell (1819-1864). Before he volunteered for the Civil War in the 49^th NYV, Daniel helped to organize the city’s first police force. He died on October 19^th, 1864 at the battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia. He is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery and there is a statue of him astride a horse in the center of Colonial Circle.

Chapin Parkway leads away from Soldiers Place to meet Delaware Avenue at Gates Circle. It was named after Brigadier General Edward Payson Chapin, who was a well known Buffalo attorney at the time of the Civil War. He was a member of Buffalo’s first semi-pro baseball team, The Niagaras.

Humboldt Parkway extended southeast from Agassiz Circle to Martin Luther King Jr. Park. The broad, beautiful parkway was designed with a heavily planted median containing a bridal path down the middle and access roads on both sides. It was initially planted with six rows of Tulip trees which turned out to be too tender for the Buffalo climate. They were replaced with Maple trees which did somewhat better and were later infilled with Elm trees. During the 1960’s Humboldt Parkway was destroyed to make way for the construction of the Kensington Expressway.

One of the widest parkways in Buffalo, NY is Lincoln Parkway which extends North from Soldiers Place to Forest Avenue with a broad, central street, two service roads on either side and two wide medians, each with a double row of Elm Trees. As the Parkway enters Delaware Park only the main road continues and drops down to the level of the lake. At this point Lincoln Parkway is joined by the Scajaquada Expressway at the stone Bridge of Three Nations built in 1900.

McKinley parkway extends from McClellan Circle where it intersects with Redjacket Parkway all the way to South Park at the formal entryway to the Conservatory. The parkway is an important connection of the two Southern parks to each other. The land for this parkway was primarily donated by early residents in the 1890’s who wished to have the benefits of a wide gracious avenue in front of their homes.

Porter Avenue connects Front Park to Symphony Circle and to the Olmsted Park System.

Red Jacket Parkway connects McClellen Circle to the Red Jacket Entrance at Cazenovia Park.

Parks

Circles

Agassiz Circle connects the former Humboldt Parkway to Delaware Park. Agassiz Circle was once the grand entryway into Delaware Park, but has been degraded by the Scajaquada Expressway.

Colonial Circle which was once called Bidwell Place, connects Richmond Avenue with Bidwell parkway. There is a statue of Brigadier General Daniel Davidson Bidwell in the center of the circle astride a horse.

Gates Circle, which was once called Chapin Place is the terminus of the Olmsted Parkway System at Chapin Parkway and Delaware Ave.

Ferry Circle is at the intersection of W Ferry and Richmond Avenue. It was recently restored based upon its original design by Frederick Law Olmsted Sr.

McClellan Circle has a five hundred foot right-of way. It connects Red Jacket Parkway to McKinley Parkway. The small center is embellished with a bed of flowering annuals, perennials, and shrubs.

McKinley Circle is on McKinley Parkway between Cazenovia Park and South Park. It is part of the border between the City of Buffalo and Lackawanna.

Soldiers Circle, once called Soldiers Place, was once lined with iron Civil War cannons. These may be replaced in the future.

Symphony Circle gets its name from the nearby Kleinhans Music Hall. Olmsted provided a tree-shaded walk on the outer side of each of the four separate panels created by the streets entering the circle, while near the inner edge of each he provided a fountain, and dense masses of shrubbery that provided shelter and a noise barrier for seats.

News_entries

Prospect

Concessions

Heacock

Days

Boating

Columbus

Golf

Front Park

Originally called The Front, Front Park was once the most popular recreational destination in the city and a prominent Buffalo icon. As with Delaware Park, Olmsted himself chose the location, but with a different vision in mind. While Delaware Park was to conjure up the sights and sounds of nature, Front Park was to emphasize the natural elements that were unique to Buffalo: the Niagara River and Lake Erie. The park’s spectacular view of the waterways from its commanding bluffs, Olmsted wrote, “would be peculiar to Buffalo and would have a character of magnificence.” Grand, regal, and more formal than many other Olmsted landscapes, The Front was designed for “stately ceremonies,” “civic display,” and other public events. Once the park was opened in the 1870's it quickly became Buffalo’s most popular park with more than 5,000 visitors on the weekends and over 1,000 visitors on weekdays.

Today, the Conservancy is working to ensure that the Peace Bridge Expansion Project will create a vibrant, healthy neighborhood connected to a vibrant, healthy park that also serves as an impressive, welcoming international gateway between the U.S and Canada. In spring 2004, we demolished the unsightly brick park building that obscured the view of the water, thus restoring the scenic overlook from this Olmsted Park. There are a number of restoration and rehabilitation projects slated for Front Park in the coming months and years. The Public Bridge Authority and the City of Buffalo have alocated over 2 million dollars for interim improvement for the park including a substantial pathway restoration project and full reconstruction of the terrace overlook plaza.

Riverside Park

Designed in 1898, the 22-acre Riverside Park was the last park the Olmsted firm designed in Buffalo. Originally, park visitors could enjoy the Minnow Pools, a romantic stream with waterfalls and bridges, or walk along a formal concourse and across a footbridge over the Erie Canal. Today, the Irene K. Gardner Pedestrian Bridge links Riverside Park to the Riverwalk, part of the Niagara River Greenway Trail, a continuous trail that links Lake Erie to Lake Ontario along the Niagara River.

In 1912, 12 acres were added to the south end of the park and laid out for active recreation. Today Riverside is a vibrant neighborhood park hosting many football games, baseball, swimming, basketball and tennis. The Conservancy has recently enhanced the football field with a grant from the National Football League and the Buffalo Bills. Many new trees are taking root throughout the park, installed with the help of many volunteers each spring and fall. Much of the original Olmsted designed features have been lost over the years, but the Conservancy is actively planning restoration projects with the City of Buffalo and the community. The first project planned is the phase one restoration of the Minnow Pools. (read more about this project)

Delaware Park

One of Olmsted’s first three parks in Buffalo, Delaware Park serves as the focal point of the Olmsted system and today contains many of Buffalo’s cultural institutions. Simply named The Park by Olmsted, this 350-acre setting serves as Buffalo’s “Central Park.”

The jewel of the Olmsted system, 350 acres of meadow, forest and lake. Much has been accomplished toward the restoration of this park – a new playground in Rumsey Woods, restoration of the Rose Garden, extensive improvements to the Marcy Casino, and many new trees planted throughout. The Conservancy’s headquarters are located in the historic Parkside Lodge (1914) which also houses the Delaware Meadows Golf Course Pro Shop. The Lodge’s handsome “Great Room”, tended croquet lawns and a fenced picnic lawn are available for rental. The Lodge also boasts recently renovated restrooms and locker rooms.

Outside the front doors of the Parkside Lodge was one of Delaware Park’s most magnificent features, a Quarry Garden. The city of buffalo quarried large amounts of stone from this location in Delaware Park for most of the structures in the parks as well as others around the city. In laying out Delaware Park Olmsted transformed this working quarry into a beautiful quarry garden landscape complete with reflective pools, stone arch bridges and a number of trees and shrubs to accent the natural stone walls. Unfortunately, when the Scajaquada Expressway was built, some of the landfill was dumped here and the garden was lost. The Conservancy is committed to uncovering this secret garden.

The jewel of the Olmsted system, 350 acres of meadow, forest and lake. Much has been accomplished toward the restoration of this park – a new playground in Rumsey Woods, restoration of the Rose Garden, extensive improvements to the Marcy Casino, and many new trees planted throughout. The Conservancy’s headquarters are located in the historic Parkside Lodge (1914) which also houses the Delaware Meadows Golf Course Pro Shop, and the Lunchbox Café. The Lodge’s handsome “Great Room”, tended croquet lawns and a fenced picnic lawn are available for rental. The Lodge also boasts recently renovated restrooms and locker rooms.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Park

The Parade was a 56-acre park designed by Olmsted in 1871. Redesigned by Olmsted’s son John in 1896, it became Humboldt Park and in 1977 was renamed Martin Luther King, Jr. Park. The park was originally connected to Delaware Park via the 200' wide Humboldt Parkway similar to Bidwell Parkway on the west side. However in 1960 the parkway was torn up and the 6 rows of stately trees were cut down to make way for the 6 high speed traffic lanes the Kennsington Expressway, ripping out what was the spine of a strong working class community leaving a great divide in its place.

The Science Museum is located in Martin Luther King Jr. park at what would have been the terminal vista of Humboldt Parkway. The parks most significant feature is the five-acre wading pool that once attracted thousands of people from the region. It is unfortunate that a generation of East Side residents has only experienced this feature as a barren, cracked, concrete basin. We are pleased to announce that with funding from the City of Buffalo, Phase 2 of the Wading Pool restoration will begin this year. The splash pool will be expanded to cover almost half of the pool area with a completely replaced basin which will be flooded in the fall and spring as a 5 acre reflective pool. The reflective pool will serve as a skating facility in the winter as weather allows.

•   (1) Spray Pool
•   (1) Wading Pool
•   (4) Tennis Courts
•   (2) Basketball Courts
•   (3) Playgrounds
•   (29) Picnic Tables
•   (6) Picnic Shelters

Cazenovia Park

Cazenovia Park is connected to South Park by Red Jacket and McKinley Parkways. Built in 1893, the park originally comprised 106 acres, but was expanded by 80 acres in 1925. Affectionately known in South Buffalo simply as “Caz” this park is always full of people from the neighborhood playing a pickup basketball game running through the splash pad spray jets, or relaxing by the creek. Evenings and weekends you will usually be able to take in a round of golf, a little league baseball or youth soccer game.

Cazenovia Park boasts one of the more mature stands of trees in the city and has been one of the focus parks in the Conservancy’s tree planting program. With more than 2,500 new trees and shrubs planted since 1999, the conservancy is committed to maintaining a healthy canopy of trees in all the parks. Adding to the park’s beauty is Cazenovia Creek, which flows through it. The Conservancy’s annual FLO Gala fundraiser hosted 400 guests for an elegant evening in Caz Park in July 2004.

Points Of Interest:

    * The Casino
    * The Shelter House
    * Cazenovia Creek

Map and Guide

South Park

The 155-acre South Park was designed in 1894 as an arboretum, with more than 2,300 types of trees, shrubs and plant life, and room for a large conservatory building, now home to the Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens.

Olmsted originally designed this park as an arboretum and there are still more than 200 species of trees in the park. We are working with the Botanical Gardens to create a Victorian arboretum so historic and extensive that it becomes the southern anchor of horticultural activity with the Royal Botanical Gardens and the Niagara Parks Commission School of Horticulture to the north. For example, we have replaced the muddy, rutted entrance of the park with a tree-lined sidewalk. We have installed park signage here and throughout the park system. We have published a walking tour book of the perimeter arboretum trees and are in the process of restoring the Wetland Garden to match the beauty of the Shrub Garden that we restored in the 1990s.

Park System History

Gifts

Sponsorship Opportunities

Thank you for your interest in sponsorship opportunities at the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy! Please call Otis Glover 716-838-1249 x22 for details or email him at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

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Volunteer

To volunteer, contact our volunteer coordinator, Steven Nagowski, at the Conservancy at (716) 838-1249 [ext. 15] or at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address); or click the volunteer button below to have your contact information sent directly to our volunteer coordinator.

Support us

We depend on the support of friends like you to restoreBuffalo’s Olmsted parks to their peak of over 42,000 trees. The parks lost nearly 1,000 trees in the surprise October 2006 storm and total restoration costs are estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Help us plant 1,000 trees a year.

Sponsor a beautiful tree, a flowering bush or a section of spring blooms as a tribute to a loved one or to commemorate an occasion.Your commemorative gift will stand in tribute for years, bringing
many seasons of beauty to the community.

Gifts of any amount may also be made to celebrate an occasion or someone's life.

Your donation will appear on your phone bill or be deducted from your prepaid account. Message & data rate may apply!

Susan G. Komen Tribute Grove

Join this tribute to life and hope. Sponsor a tree, pink flowering shrub, pink spring blossoms or a personalized park bench.

25% of each gift of $100 or more is donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation of WNY!

For more information call Olga Nichols at (716) 838-1249, ext. 31 or email her at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Make A Gift

Create a memory of a life experience with the planting of a living tribute in one of Buffalo’s Olmsted parks. Mark an anniversary, a birth, or remember a loved one. What better gift for the special people in your life. Our staff will work with you as you select the appropriate tribute. Our landscape architects will integrate your gift into the historic planting schemes of our historic parks.

Once planted, you or the person(s) you are honoring will receive a certificate indicating your gift, and the date of the gift.

Are you looking to leave your mark on the city? By endowing a Legacy Landscape, you will ensure the care and maintenance of a prime garden or grove in the park for the foreseeable future. We will also include appropriate signage to designate your legacy donation.

For more information, please contact Christine Fontaneda at (716) 838-1249, ext. 14 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

In 1868, Frederick Law Olmsted was invited to Buffalo by a group of people who had seen what he had created in New York City. Thanks to this group of visionaries, Buffalo caught the imagination of the country’s first landscape architect and led him to create the nation’s first urban park system. We need people with vision today to help us continue the work of the Conservancy tomorrow for the generations that will follow. By carefully planning your gift to the Conservancy with your estate and current financial planning in mind, you may be able to take advantage of various opportunities that can help maximize your gift and your tax benefits.

From a simple bequest to charitable remainder trusts and annuities, there is a planned giving opportunity that can work for you.

For more information, please contact Christine Fontaneda at (716) 838-1249, ext. 14 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

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Facilities for Rent

The Marcy Casino

History

Plans for Delaware Park were designed by renowned landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted, in 1868. By 1874, his partner, Calver Vaux, designed the original boathouse. Eventually the boathouse was enlarged due to its popularity, but sadly was destroyed by a fire in 1900.

The structure was rebuilt in time for the 1901 Pan-American Exposition that took place throughout Delaware Park. The new 3-story building, designed by Buffalo architect E.B Green, officially became known as the Delaware Park Casino and served as a popular gathering place until 1960.

The expanding city and move toward modernization led to the total renovation of the Casino in 1961, removing any trace of E.B Green's design. In 1990, the Casino was "restored" to a style that reflected Olmsted, Vaux, and Green's simpler styles. Today it is known as the Marcy Casino in honor of William L. Marcy, Jr., Delaware District Councilman 1978 - 1983, for his devotion to the Casino and the City of Buffalo.

Features

The building it self over looks the beautiful Hoyt Lake, when you look out the windows of the Marcy Casino or step out onto the Balcony you see the 350-arce of Delaware Park, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, and the Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society. One of the best views in Buffalo.

The Terrace room can seat 60 guests for a sit down meal. For a cocktail style event the Terrace Room can hold up to 100 guests. It is a perfect fit for birthdays, baby showers, wedding showers, brunches, Bar Mitzvah, and cocktail parties. You will also have access to the wrap around balcony which gives you a beautiful view of the lake and surrounding area.

The Pan Am Room has a seating capacity 130 guests and up to 150 guests if you use the dance floor area for seating as well. When you rent the Pan Am Room you also have access to the covered patio area which can seat up to an additional 100 guests. For a cocktail style event the Pan Am Room can hold up to 200 guests.

** All catering is done through Buffalo Olmsted Conservancy Contracted Caterers **

For Rental Information on the Marcy Casino, Japanese Garden, Rose Garden, Parkside Lodge or Cazenovia Casino

Please contact the rental coordinator at

(716) 886-0088

or email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

The City of Buffalo will now be handling permits for certain events in the Olmsted Parks. To rent the Marcy Casino, the Parkside Lodge, the Cazenovia Casino, the Rose Garden or the Japanese Garden, please contact Carl Radetich at (716)886-0088 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). To apply for a permit to use the Olmsted Parks for sports, special events, or shelter rentals, please contact Arlene Mustafa at (716)851-9670 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

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Jobs

Thank you for your interest in working for the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy.

We are looking for RFQ to run all our concessions throughtout the park system. For details click here.

Master Plan

As of February of 2011, the BOPC presents Olmsted Park and Parkway System DESIGN GUIDELINES for New Construction and Landscape Features Adjoining and within the viewshed of the Olmsted parks, parkways, and historic streetscapes of Buffalo, New York. Click here to view.

Advisory Council

Partners

Learn more about Olmsted and what other organizations are doing from these links

Board of Trustees

Staff

Facilities

The Marcy Casino

History

Features

Frederick Law Olmsted

Frederick Law Olmsted Sr. is considered the father of American Landscape Architecture. Olmsted was responsible for a large number of park designs, both public and private, alone and in collaboration with other architects, most notably Calvert Vaux. His most prolific works include Manhattan's Central Park, Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, Boston’s Emerald Necklace, the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC, Downing Park of Newburgh, NY, and Buffalo’s Park System.

After early careers as a sailor, journalist, and anti-slavery activist, Olmsted turned his attention to landscape architecture in the 1850s after entering and winning a design competition for New York’s Central Park with Calvert Vaux—a partnership that would last for another fifteen years. The idea for a New York City Park was first proposed by Andrew Jackson Downing, a notable American landscape designer, advocate of the Gothic Revival style in the United States, and editor of The Horticulturist magazine (1846-52). In 1850 Downing traveled to Europe where he met English Architect Calvert Vaux. He made Vaux his partner and for two years they worked in the United States on projects such as the White House grounds and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. It was during these years that Downing introduced Olmsted and Vaux to each other, both having Downing as a mutual acquaintance and friend. Olmsted even wrote a few articles for Downing’s magazine, The Horticulturalist. On July 28^th 1852 Downing passed away after a steamboat accident just South of Yonkers, NY. Olmsted and Vaux took over Downing’s architectural practice and entered their Greensward design in the competition for New York City’s Central Park. They were announced as the winners in 1858. Work began almost immediately and thus began fifteen years of professional collaboration.

On August 12^th, 1868 after the successful completion of Central Park by Olmsted and Vaux, William Dorsheimer, a prominent Buffalo, NY attorney reached out to Olmsted for advice on a similar grand park design for Buffalo. Dorsheimer, at the time a future congressman, is best remembered in addition to hiring Olmsted, for hiring American Architect H. H. Richardson to design a house for him on Delaware Avenue. It still stands today and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Dorsheimer also helped Richardson to win the commission to design the New York State Asylum in Buffalo (now known as the Richardson Olmsted Complex). Olmsted visited Buffalo on August 16^th shortly after Dorsheimer contacted him and spent the day touring the city and the open farmland to the North. Olmsted had been in Buffalo during the Civil War and had admired Joseph Ellicott’s city plan for its departure from a strict grid system and its sensitivity to the topography of the area. He was famously quoted as saying that Buffalo is the “best planned city…in the United States, if not the world”. In a letter written to Dorsheimer on October 1^st 1868, he recommended not just one park, but a comprehensive public park system connected by a system of parkways. This vision was backed by a committee of five prominent Buffalonians, including Dorsheimer, Pascal P. Pratt, Sherman S. Jewett, Richard Flach, and Joseph Warren, and was quickly supported by Buffalo’s mayor, William F. Rogers. In 1870, the Olmsted firm was retained to design the new park system, and in 1876 The Plan of the Buffalo Park System was displayed at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876. Afterwards, Olmsted donated the displayed plan to the City of Buffalo.

The Olmsted and Vaux 1870 Plan for the Buffalo Parks System was a revolutionary development in the practice of Landscape Architecture in its integration of landscape design and urban planning. The plan included three major parks: The Park (now Delaware Park), The Front (now Front Park), and The Parade (later called Humboldt Park and now Martin Luther King, Jr. Park). The plan included interconnecting Parkways, or “linear parks” that Olmsted designed to connect the parks to each other and to the city overall. The result was an urban landscape embroidered with “green ribbons” that wove serene natural settings into a bustling industrial center. These connections made visible the integrity of the system as a whole, and served the broader function of linking disparate parts of the city.

In the 1880’s Olmsted was invited back to design the extension of the parks system to the south. He recommended a large waterfront park on the shores of Lake Erie accessible by both carriage roads and a water canal from downtown. Olmsted was relegated to design on a series of inland sites: Heacock Place, Cazenovia Park and South Park design as a botanical garden and arboretum, the largest of which he designed in his career. Near the end of the 19^th century after Olmsted’s retirement the Olmsted firm, headed by his two sons, designed a plan for Riverside Park in Blackrock. The unique qualities of the Buffalo Olmsted Park System was nationally and internationally recognized beginning with the selection of Buffalo as the location of the Pan American Exposition in 1901. The fact that the Buffalo system was actually constructed as planned and that communication with Olmsted and his associates was continuous for over 30 years, makes the Buffalo system unique and significant as a Buffalo resource.

The term “Olmstedian Landscape” is often used to describe a certain style of open space, sometimes accurately but often times simplistically to describe lawn with trees. The Olmsted design principles have been broken down into The Seven S’s by notable Olmsted scholar Charles Beveridge.

Frederick Law Olmsted Sr. died in 1903, and he passed on to his sons John Charles Olmsted and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. the first Landscape Architecture Firm in the United States. The firm employed 60 people in the 1930’s at its peak, and the two brothers were among the original founding members of the American Society of Landscape Architects(ASLA), and played an influencial role in creating the National Parks Service.

Frederick Law Olmsted is not only considered the father of modern landscape architecture, but he also named the profession. Olmsted was the first to champion the need for green space and outdoor activity in the country’s rapidly industrializing cities. Olmsted has designed parks, estates and neighborhoods throughout the United States and Canada. Today, Buffalo’s parks are just as essential to the cities well being as they were over 100 years ago when Olmsted designed them. In particular, research has shown that parks make a vital contribution to the health, environment and wealth of a city.

Mission

Mission: The Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy, (BOPC), is a 501c3 not-for-profit, independent, community organization that promotes, preserves, restores, enhances and ensures maintenance of Olmsted Parks and Parkways in the greater Buffalo area to guarantee Olmsted park experiences for current and future generations.

Core Purpose: To honor yesterday’s heritage, enhance the quality of life today for neighbors and visitors and create a legacy for the Buffalo of tomorrow.

We have a few strong and enduring beliefs that guide the rightness of our decisions. They are our core values. Guiding principles are aspects we strive to achieve, though are not yet core values.

Not enough to just state a goal, the ten-year vivid description describes what it will be like in 2019. The full description is contained in this document, and can be summarized:

The Buffalo Olmsted Parks are a leading visitor destination and community resource comprised of connected historic parks, parkways, avenues, and circles, where clean and safe landscapes are celebrated and revered as major works of public art. The Conservancy’s Plan for the 21^st Century has begun to effectively stitch the fabric of the City back together while providing exceptional education and advocacy programs and events.

Always forward looking, the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy provides leadership, dialogue, and collaboration to promote sustainable stewardship and financial viability for the park system.

History

The Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy is the first nonprofit organization in the nation to manage and operate an entire historic urban park system that consists of 1200 acres of beautifully designed parks, parkways and circles. The Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy is a not-for-profit, membership-based, community organization whose mission is to promote, preserve, restore, enhance, and maintain the Frederick Law Olmsted-designed parks and parkways in the Greater Buffalo area for current and future generations.

More than 1 million people use Buffalo’s historic, award-winning Olmsted Park System annually for recreation, relaxation and rejuvenation. Buffalo’s Olmsted System includes the popular urban green spaces: Cazenovia Park, Delaware Park, Front Park, Martin Luther King, Jr., Park, Riverside Park and South Park as well as their adjoining parkways and circles which weave throughout the city of Buffalo. The parks were designed by America’s first landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted more than 135 years ago. Olmsted designed parks in nearly every major city in the country. However, his work in Buffalo – the first park and parkway system designed and built in the U.S. - is considered his very best.

Basic maintenance of the parks has been greatly improved with universal respect and admiration for the work that the Conservancy has accomplished over the past six years since the 2004 groundbreaking agreement with the City of Buffalo and Erie County. Since that time, the Olmsted Parks Conservancy, now partnering with the city of Buffalo, has retained full responsibility for the management and maintenance of these green spaces which are listed on the National and State Registers of Historic Places. Park maintenance including turf care, litter pickup and trash removal, graffiti clean-up, tree, shrub and flower plantings and pruning are managed year round in a professional and competent manner by Olmsted staff and thousands of dedicated volunteers. In 2008, the Conservancy adopted the Plan for the 21st Century, the comprehensive blueprint necessary to restore the parks to Olmsted’s original vision while expanding and completing the system as originally conceived, a "city within a park." The plan calls for systematic reinvestment in the parks over time with 300 capital projects providing a new investment in Buffalo's historic parks and parkways.

Art & Nature
Frederick Law Olmsted is America's first and greatest landscape architect. He once said, "A park is a work of art, designed to produce certain effects upon the minds of men." His system of parks and parkways in Buffalo is the first of its kind in the nation and represents one of his largest bodies of work. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the System consists of six major parks, their connecting parkways and circles, and several smaller spaces. Today, it comprises 75% of the city's parkland.

In the late 1800s, visionary citizens brought Olmsted to Buffalo. It was here that Olmsted, inspired by Joseph Ellicott's radial street layout, designed his first system of parks and parkways, and proclaimed Buffalo to be "the best designed city in the country, if not the world." During the 1901 Pan American Exposition, Buffalo was celebrated not only as the City of Light, but the City of Trees.

Urban Value
As early as the 1850's, Olmsted justified the purchase of land for New York City's Central Park by noting that the rising value of adjacent properties would produce enough new tax revenue to pay for the investment. By 1864, Olmsted documented a net return of $55,880 in additional annual tax revenues. With a revitalized Buffalo Olmsted Park System, the potential for economic development opportunities in Western New York are endless!

As recent studies at Yale University have found, urban nature areas have proven to reduce societal stress, moderate temperatures, purify air, prevent soil erosion and protect water sources. This is in addition to neighborhood connection, improved quality of life and increased property values for park community residents.

Today, cities across America are discovering what Buffalo knew a century ago - quality urban parks and greenways are vital to a city's quality of life and to its economic success. The Buffalo Olmsted Park System creates a unique urban landscape that integrates the city, providing common ground and connectivity among the neighborhoods.

New Ground
In 2004, the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy entered a groundbreaking partnership with the City of Buffalo, Erie County and the Community that made the Conservancy the official stewards of the Buffalo Olmsted Park System, overseeing its management, operations and maintenance. The Conservancy is the first not-for-profit in the nation to manage a park system. Through the development of a 20-year Management and Restoration plan with guidance of its community-based Advisory Council, the Conservancy's experienced and professional staff is now revolutionizing the way common ground is cared for in Buffalo.

Revolutionary Results
In a plan modeled after Central Park Conservancy's highly successful Zone Management System, the Conservancy has broken the entire Olmsted Park System into a series of 10-50 acre zones. A seasonal zone gardener is assigned to every zone. Each zone gardener is responsible for everything within the assigned area, from trash pick up to bench repair; from working with volunteers to plantings. This revolutionary urban parks management plan brings accountability and pride in ownership to the parks. Public feedback and participation is key to its success.

Building Success
Keeping its activities mission-focused and community-based is the key to the Conservancy's success. Success has brought strength. In 2000 the Conservancy defended Front Park and Porter Avenue from an encroaching transportation project. In 2003, it successfully advocated that the Scajaquada Expressway be replaced with a calmer, more beautiful parkway. In 2004, it explained the value of implementing a revolutionary urban parks management plan that is now in place. Victories like these that improve both parks and neighborhoods have empowered the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy to become an important advocate for Western New York.

The Conservancy continues to work towards creating visible and positive changes in this community that will improve the quality of life in our region. Look for more projects in the parks in upcoming months as well as updates on large urban planning initiatives.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy website. Scroll down for comprehensive information about our projects and events.

Saturday September 24th, 9:00 a.m., held once again by the Grant Amherst Business Association and Scajaquada Canoe Club in conjunction with Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper. Picnic to follow. To sign up call Riverkeeper at 852-7483.

Winter has never been this FLURRIOUS! Check out all the pictures on our Facebook page!

FLURRIOUS! was made possible by our generous sponsors, Wegmans and National Grid, our partners Magnolia Catering, Coles Restaurant, and the City of Buffalo, and our media sponsor WGRZ Channel 2.

Missed FLURRIOUS!? Click here for a recap

Keep us with everything Buffalo Olmsted on our Facebook page.

The Frederick Law Olmsted Legacy mural at McKinley High School is complete. Make sure you stop by to admire this wonderful addition to our city's public art. Check out the Artvoice interview with Augustina Droze, mural artist. The mural is part of the Jesse Kregal Pathway Improvement Project. Read more.

We hope you will consider a visit to Buffalo’s Olmsted Park System, the nation’s first park and parkway system. This 19^th century living landscape masterpiece, designed by the pre-eminent landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted and his partners, provides visitors today with a glimpse into the genius created by these landscape design masters.

Found lacing throughout the city, the 1200- acre Olmsted parklands are connected along shady avenues and parkways linking together six major parks. Punctuated by planted traffic circles, the parkway system invites urban dwellers to step outside their homes and walk to a nearby park under the shade of mature trees, Buffalo’s “green lungs.” The Olmsted Parks are at the heart of a proven restoration strategy that builds healthy communities and healthy citizens.

The parks and parkways are host to numerous festivals, walks, athletic competitions, golf, boating, music, and play. The great majority of the park users are there to simply relax and enjoy. The Olmsted landscapes form the setting for much of the city’s vibrant cultural life; live outdoor music, free Shakespeare performances, the Kleinhans Music Hall, the art collections of the Albright Knox Art Gallery and the new Burchfield Penny Art Center, the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, the Buffalo Museum of Science, the Darwin Martin House and the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Garden. Graced by many important public artworks, the parks are a veritable outdoor museum for all to enjoy, free of charge.

Managed by the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy since 2004 through a cutting edge public/private partnership with the city of Buffalo, the parks are carefully tended by skilled landscape technicians, staff, interns, volunteers, and job training program participants. Restoration of the parks and parkways is guided by an award-winning master plan, the Olmsted City, Buffalo’s Olmsted Parks Plan for the 21^st Century. The plan promotes sustainable management of the park landscapes, restoring them to Olmsted’s original vision while meeting the contemporary recreational needs of the park user.

We thank our radio partner WUFO A.M.

Contact the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy at:

84 Parkside Ave, Buffalo, New York, 14214; call us at 716-838-1249

Support the Parks

November 2009

Dear Friend of the Olmsted Parks,

I’d like to be writing you a happy letter with great news about the Conservancy, but I’m not; At least not yet. We are facing potentially the greatest challenge in our history.

If you have been keeping up with the media, I am sure you are aware that the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy is in contract negotiations with the City of Buffalo. On behalf of the entire Olmsted family - staff, board, volunteers, donors, members and neighbors - I want to express my sincere gratitude for the outpouring of public support you are bestowing on the Conservancy. Your encouragement for the Conservancy’s work: park maintenance, operations and fundraising over the past 5 years, has been amazing. We are committed to continuing as stewards of these landmark parks.

If you have not done so already, please sign our online petition endorsing the work we do in the treasured parks day in, day out and year-round. Visit http://www.BFLOparks.org to join thousands of park users who appreciate Olmsted’s green spaces and their benefit to the entire region.

But there’s more work to be done and in a very short amount of time. Because of the contract impasse several substantial grants have been delayed until the contract is settled. As a result we have been hit very hard in our checkbook and need some immediate help. If you have been considering a yearend donation to the Conservancy, I encourage you to make it now.

As a friend of the parks, we hope that you will join your neighbors in making a fully tax- deductible contribution to the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy. Your support goes directly to operations and upkeep of the 1200-acre historic parkland (6 major parks, 13,000+ trees and shrubs, millions of flowers, woodlands, ponds, lakes, 3 golf courses, ball fields and courts, park shelters, pathways, parkways, circles and other hidden park treasures) that weave through our region’s neighborhoods.

More than ever, we need your support. Buffalo’s Olmsted Park System, the first ever in the nation, truly enhances our quality of life – right here in Western New York. Support the Conservancy’s efforts to preserve these priceless landscapes and ecosystems - help us keep the parks clean and green now and for future generations.

Thank you in advance, we are most grateful for your support.
With sincere appreciation,

Thomas Herrera-Mishler
President & CEO

P.S. We encourage you to write to your elected officials and the media to let them know you are in full support of Olmsted.

DEDICATION AND PLANTING AT THE NEW SUSAN G. KOMEN FOR THE CURE COMMEMORATIVE GROVE IN DELAWARE PARK

Surrounded by large pink bows and ribbons, friends, family and supporters of those with breast cancer will gather in Delaware Park this afternoon for a dedication and planting at the new Susan G. Komen Commemorative Grove. The Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy and the WNY affiliate of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure plan to officially dedicate the grove in honor of the tens of thousands who have fought breast cancer. The initial planting of trees, shrubs, and flower bulbs and installation of two benches and a boulder will officially launch this new legacy garden located in the historic park by the entrance at Parkside Avenue and East Meadow.

“Come spring and every spring thereafter, this lively corner of Delaware Park will bloom with bright pink colors in honor of those with breast cancer,” said Thomas Herrera-Mishler, president & CEO of the Olmsted Parks Conservancy. “Delaware Park’s legacy will be shared by those with breast cancer and those who are committed to and advocating for a cure.”

“This grove signifies remembrance and hope. Year round we can come here to honor all of our breast cancer heroes and pay tribute to those who did not survive,” said Jackie Mordaunt, WNY Komen Affiliate executive director.

The Susan G. Komen Commemorative Grove was designed to allow friends and families to sponsor a legacy planting in remembrance of, or in honor of a loved one with breast cancer. The Grove was designed by award- winning landscape architect Joy Keubler, with the plantings selected by Olmsted’s landscape architects, Brian Dold and Greg Robinson. The Delaware Park landscape, which can be seen from Parkside Avenue near the entrance to the Scajaquada Expressway, will feature colorful greens and pink blooms, trees, pathways and park benches.

“I wanted to honor two survivors, my sister and my sister-in-law, who like thousands of other women have battled breast cancer,” stated Donna Murphy who sponsored a commemorative bench. “I invite my family and others to come here to celebrate life and remember the good times.”

One out of eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. There are almost 14,000 survivors in western New York. Early detection saves lives. It is the single most important course of action in the fight against breast cancer.

Anyone interested in sponsoring a tree, shrub or park bench for placement in the Tribute Grove in Delaware Park may call the Olmsted Parks Conservancy at 716-838-1249 ext. 31, or visit http://www.buffaloolmstedparks.org. Spring Blooms (50 qty) are $50; Flowering Shrubs are $100 or $250 for three; Trees are $350; and Park Benches are $3500. Gifts are tax-deductible with 25% of each donation going to Susan G. Komen for the Cure WNY.

The WNY Komen Affiliate promotes and aids in the work of the Cancer Services Program of New York State. These county partnerships provide breast-health screening and cancer-treatment services for uninsured or underinsured women who qualify. For more information on this life-saving program, please call their toll free number at 1-866-442-2262.

The Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy is a not-for-profit, independent, community organization that promotes, preserves, restores, enhances, and ensures maintenance of Frederick Law Olmsted-designed parks and parkways in the Greater Buffalo area now and for future generations. Last year, the Conservancy released its Plan for the 21st Century, a blueprint for the management and restoration of the entire park system. Listed on the National and State Register of Historic Places, the Olmsted system in Buffalo is the first of its kind in the nation designed by America’s greatest landscape architect. The major Olmsted Parks in Buffalo are Cazenovia, Delaware, Front, Martin Luther King, Jr., Riverside and South Parks.

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For Immediate Release: November 7, 2009
For More Information:
Joy Testa Cinquino, Olmsted Parks, 716-308-2361, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Jackie Mordaunt, Susan G. Komen, 716-994-1528, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Olmsted’s Oktoberfest

New Olmsted C E O Announced

Thomas Herrera-Mishler is the President and CEO of the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy, our region’s leading not-for-profit, membership-based organization, responsible for the maintenance and operations of Buffalo’s beloved Olmsted Park and Parkway System.

A year ago, Mr. Herrera-Mishler, his wife, the Honorable Mercedes Herrera Rojas de Mishler, and three daughters moved to Buffalo from Wellesley, Massachusetts where he served as Executive Director of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. There, he was responsible for nearly doubling membership to 7000, helping restore the Society’s Olmsted-designed headquarter estate grounds, and creating major improvements to the Annual Flower show, the largest cultural event in the northeast.

Mexican –born, Thomas Herrera-Mishler obtained his Master of Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning, Urban Design Specialization from the University of Michigan in 1986. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Language & Literature with a Minor in Business Administration from Eastern Michigan University in 1982.

It was while studying landscape architecture that Herrera-Mishler grew to admire Frederick Law Olmsted, the iconic designer of urban parks including Central Park in NYC and parks in major cities across the country.

Buffalo’s own Olmsted system was designed beginning in 1868 and sits on the Register of National Historic Places. Herrera-Mishler’s portfolio includes the master plan for the National Zoo and Botanical Garden of Costa Rica.

After serving as project landscape architect on various projects around the US and abroad, Herrera-Mishler moved into the non-profit sector in 1992, working as the community landscape architect for the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society in Philadelphia, and later as executive director of Philadelphia’s Awbury Arboretum & Historic Estate, executive director of the Toledo Botanical Garden and director of Arlie Gardens in Wilmington, N.C.

Thomas is a determined gardener, occasional chef, and voracious reader and has over 100 photo albums on his Facebook page.

Video - Copy of Olmsted Historian and Scholar to Make Presentation

For Immediate Release: Friday, September 19, 2008
For More Information: Katie Rampino, development & marketing coordinator, (716) 838-1249 ext. 30

The Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy presents Charles E. Beveridge, noted Olmsted scholar and prolific author, on Wednesday, November 12 from 11:45 a.m. – 1:15 p.m. at the Marcy Casino in Delaware Park. Dr. Beveridge will speak on the impact and historical significance of our beloved Olmsted parks in Buffalo.

“We are honored to have Charles Beveridge in Buffalo to share his extensive knowledge of the renowned landscape architect that created such a cultural gem in our city and in cities throughout the nation,” said Thomas Herrera-Mishler, president and CEO of the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy. “Frederick Law Olmsted left behind an exciting legacy and there is no one better than Dr. Beveridge to present it to us.”

Charles Beveridge is Series Editor of The Papers of Frederick Law Olmsted, the historical editing project sponsored by the National Association for Olmsted Parks, that is preparing a twelve-volume edition of Olmsted’s writings and landscape plans. Eight volumes of the series have been published thus far by Johns Hopkins University Press. An American social and urban historian, Dr. Beveridge received an AB (magna cum laude) from Harvard College and an MA and PhD from the University of Wisconsin. He is a founding member and member of the Leadership Council of the National Association for Olmsted Parks.

Dr. Beveridge is also the author, in collaboration with photographer Paul Rocheleau, of the award-winning book Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing the American Landscape. He has received numerous awards for his work including the Olmsted award of Historic Massachusetts, the Garden Club of America’s medal for historic preservation, the Olmsted medal of the American Society of Landscape Architects, and honorary membership in the ASLA.

Guest List: Tickets are $35 for Conservancy members and $40 for non-members. Sponsor a table of 8 for $350. Prices include lunch and presentation. RSVP by November 5: Details below.

The Guest Speaker Luncheon is supported by M&T Bank and WBFO 88.7

2008 marks the thirty-year anniversary of the Olmsted Parks Conservancy, a not-for-profit, membership-based, community organization, with the mission to broaden awareness of, appreciation for, and investment in the Buffalo Olmsted Park System in order to enhance, restore and maintain this historic cultural treasure for the benefit of current and future generations. A national treasure, the Olmsted System is the first of its kind in the nation designed by America’s greatest landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Buffalo’s Olmsted Parks are frequented by millions annually.

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The Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy presents
Charles E. Beveridge
Noted Olmsted scholar and prolific author speaking on
the impact and historical significance of our beloved
Olmsted Parks in Buffalo

Date: Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Time: 11:45 a.m. – 1:15 p.m.
Location: Marcy Casino, Delaware Park
Tickets: $35 (Olmsted members) / $40; Sponsor a Table of 8 for $350

RSVP by November 5, 2008 by returning an RSVP card (download below), calling (716) 838-1249 ext. 31 or emailing .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

PARKS RECEIVE $60,500 FROM OCTOBER STORM CONTRACTORS AND CONSULTANTS

The Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy was presented with $60,500 today representing donations from more than 12 engineering consultant and debris contractor firms who played a significant role in clearing the Olmsted Park and Parkway System and our region of debris following the October storm.

“It is essential to give back to our communities,” said Sam M. Rosania, project manager, Malcolm Pirnie, Inc. “We saw firsthand the devastation caused by the storm. Malcolm Pirnie, as well as a dozen other contractors, engineers and consultants wanted to give something back to these historic parks because we understand how costly it is to recover and reforest this major community asset.”

“Sadly, the storm had an impact on everyone including on the 1200-acre Olmsted Park System,” said Johnathan M. Holifield, CEO, Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy. “Had it not been for the emergency efforts of these environmental experts, we would probably still be clearing debris in the parks. This generous donation reinforces our work in the parks and is a great example of giving back to the community. “

Malcolm Pirnie, Inc. $25,000
Phillips & Jordan, Inc. $10,000
Boldt’s Evergreen $5000
CSX Corporation, $5000
Dipizio Construction Co., Inc. $5000
American Site Developers, LLC, $3000
UCC Contractors $2000
Wendel Duchscherer, A & E, $2000
Bevlar and Associates, Inc. $1000
RES $1000
Terry Tree, LLC $1000
Madcom $

Olmsted’s reforestation efforts began in late April when more than 600 volunteers planted 400 trees in Cazenovia, Delaware, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Riverside Parks as well as in McClellan and McKinley Circles.

Later this evening, contributors will attend a reception / fundraising auction at The Mansion on Delaware Avenue to celebrate the work done in the parks.

Olmsted Parks October Storm Facts from Malcolm Pirnie
Key:
CY = cubic yards
Class = size of tree diameter, the higher the number, the bigger the tree, approximately one foot per class
Hangers = hanging limbs
Leaners = leaning and split trees that needed to be removed

CAZENOVIA PARK
11,535.45 CY

1526 Hangers

2 - Class 1 Leaners

6 - Class 2 Leaners

1 - Class 3 Leaners

No Class 4-6 Leaners

DELAWARE PARK
12,883.55 CY

2374 Hangers

3 - Class 1 Leaners

21 - Class 2 Leaners

9 - Class 3 Leaners

3 - Class 4 Leaners

5 - Class 5 Leaners

No Class 6 Leaners

FRONT PARK
325.4 CY

145 - Hangers

No Leaners

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR PARK
669.1 CY

715 Hangers

No Class 1 Leaners

9 - Class 2 Leaners

No Class 3 Leaners

1 - Class 4 Leaner

No Class 5-6 Leaners

RIVERSIDE PARK

No CY

49 Hangers

No Leaners

SOUTH PARK

50,173.05 CY

49 Hangers

No Class 1-2 Leaners

1 - Class 3 Leaner

No Class 4-6 Leaners

For More Information:
Joy Testa Cinquino, Olmsted Parks Conservancy, (716) 838-1249 ext. 17

Results of Olmsted Tree Survey Released

The Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy announced today the results of a comprehensive Tree Inventory and Management Plan which will provide the Conservancy valuable insight into the condition of over 11,000 trees in the city’s historic Olmsted Park system.

During an outdoor ceremony by an stand of trees in Delaware Park, representatives of the Conservancy and M&T Bank, which helped fund the survey, heralded the results and stressed that the comprehensive information will help the Conservancy effectively manage and improve the lifespan of thousands of young and old trees growing in the 1200 - acres of Olmsted-designed green space in Buffalo.

The survey revealed that although a majority of the trees growing in the Olmsted parks, parkways and circles are in good or fair condition, 27 percent are in poor condition. Along with a comprehensive inventory, the study provides a management plan for the park system’s trees, with a focus on increased and sustained tree planting, regular pruning and pest management.

By implementing the tree survey’s management plan, the Conservancy aims to restore many of the characteristics of Frederick Law Olmsted’s original vegetation plan, which was conceived in 1868. This management plan is part of a larger Park’s 20-Year Management and Restoration plan, currently in progress.

“The completed tree inventory will be an invaluable asset to the Conservancy as we move forward in our planning efforts. We now know exactly what we are dealing with, in terms of our system’s beautiful trees, keeping them healthy and thriving. This will certainly make for a better park experience,” said Corinne Rice, chair of the Conservancy’s board.

“For many years, Buffalo was known as the City of Trees, due in part to the genius of Olmsted. Six lanes of trees provided an amazing canopy of green beauty along many of the city’s best known parkways – like Bidwell, Lincoln, Richmond, Humboldt, McKinley and McClellan. We at M&T Bank salute that legacy. We are proud to support the Olmsted Parks and the efforts of thousands of community volunteers who are helping to keep the parks clean and healthy now and for future generations,” said Jeffrey Wellington, president of M&T Bank’s Buffalo Region.

Below are some key findings and recommendations of the tree survey:

§ There are over 11,000 trees identified in managed areas. This does not include a large number of trees in wooded areas along streams or in other low-maintenance areas.

§ Cazenovia Park, Delaware Lake, Delaware Meadow, Martin Luther King Jr. Park and South Park, the largest of Buffalo’s Olmsted Parks, have the most trees.

§ The park trees are dominated by maples, oaks, elms, and pines. Norway maple is the most common individual species.

§ The total value of the trees in the Olmsted Park system is $22 million. They also have incredible environmental value – storing over 40 metric tons of carbon, and annually removing four metric tons of air pollutants. The net effect is that trees in Olmsted Parks cool the city, keep energy costs lower, reduce pollution in the air and in the water, and also act as a home to various birds and other wildlife.

§ There is a need for increased and sustained tree plantings.

§ Budgets and maintenance schedules should be developed to remove or prune high-risk trees.

§ Small trees at maturity are a significant part of the parks and should receive periodic pruning.

Portions of the Olmsted Tree Inventory and Management Plan can be found on the Conservancy’s website: http://www. BuffaloOlmstedParks.org. “Our inventory will assist the entire community with its tree management plan,” said Jeff Brett, certified arborist and Olmsted Parks Conservancy staff member.

The community can assist in the Conservancy’s efforts by purchasing a tree to be placed in an Olmsted Park through our Commemorative Gifting Program. Please contact the Conservancy at 838-1249 for more information.

This comprehensive tree survey was made possible with support from M&T Bank. Urban Forestry LLC of Rochester conducted the survey along with Conservancy staff. Additional assistance was provided by the University at Buffalo Urban Design Project. The survey was initiated and completed late in 2005.

The Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy (BOPC) is an independent, not-for-profit, membership-based, community organization whose mission is to promote, preserve, restore, enhance and ensure the maintenance of Olmsted-designed parks and parkways in the Greater Buffalo area now and for future generations. The Conservancy, now in its 28th year, maintains Buffalo’s historic Frederick Law Olmsted-designed Park System, the first of its kind in the nation. In partnership with the community, the Conservancy works to revitalize Delaware, Cazenovia, Front, Martin Luther King, Jr., Riverside and South Parks and their connecting parkways, circles and other spaces. World-renown as the “Father of Landscape Architecture,” Olmsted also designed the Parkside neighborhood, the grounds of the H.H. Richardson Complex, and the Niagara Falls State Park, as well as New York’s Central Park, the grounds of the U.S. Capitol and the White House, Yosemite National Park and famous parks and green spaces throughout North America. To learn more about the Conservancy, call 838-1249 or visit http://www.BuffaloOlmstedParks.org .

WIVB TV Channel 4 is the 2006 Media Sponsor and Barefoot Wine is wine sponsor for the Olmsted Parks Conservancy.

Phase 1 of Capital Campaign Goal Reached

Annual Report, July 1 2004 to December 31 2005

BUFFALO OLMSTED PARK SYSTEM FEATURED IN UPCOMING ISSUE OF NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

BUFFALO OLMSTED PARK SYSTEM
FEATURED IN UPCOMING ISSUE OF
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE

Two photographs featuring the Buffalo Olmsted Park System appear in the March 2005 issue of National Geographic magazine.

In a 10-page article entitled Frederick Law Olmsted’s Passion for Parks, a wintertime photograph of the stately Oak Tree which sits in the grand meadow of Delaware Park; and an overhead shot of Gates Circle looking down on rows of trees along beautiful Chapin Parkway are featured among photos of Central Park and Prospect Park in New York City, Yosemite National Park in California and Mount Royal Park in Montreal.

“Buffalo’s Olmsted Parks stand among the most scenic in the world and this article about the Olmsted legacy is a testament to that,” said Deborah Ann Trimble, executive director of the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy. “Frederick Law Olmsted is considered America’s greatest landscape architect and Buffalo is so fortunate to have these important, interesting and historic cultural attractions right in our own backyards. In fact, Olmsted was so impressed with the radial street design already in place in Buffalo that he designed an entire system of parks and adjoining parkways and circles – the first in the nation, a plan later copied in cities across the country,” stated Trimble.

In February of 2003, award-winning photo journalist Melissa Farlow contacted the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy about visiting the Olmsted system. For the article, Ms. Farlow explained that she wanted to capture a “first snow” as it fell upon park trees and the majestic landscapes of the Olmsted-designed spaces. The photographer camped out one cold winter night and photographed some early morning shots of freshly fallen snow. She came back to Buffalo from her home in Pennsylvania on several occasions to take more pictures, but there was no guarantee the Buffalo pictures would be published in the highly acclaimed and popular National Geographic magazine. Recently, to our delight, the Conservancy was notified that two of the Buffalo photos would be included in the article, which is written by John G. Mitchell.

The two photographs were unveiled during a media and members reception in the Parkside Lodge in Delaware Park this morning. Conservancy Chair, Corinne Rice presented the photographs.

National Geographic magazine is the official journal of the National Geographic Society, one of the world’s largest nonprofit educational and scientific organizations. Published in English and 26 local-language editions, the magazine has a circulation of around 9 million that spans every country around the globe. It is sent each month to National Geographic members and is also available on newsstands for $4.95 a copy. Single copies can be ordered by calling (800) NGS-LINE, also the number to call to apply for membership of the Society.

The Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy, now in its 27th year, maintains Buffalo’s historic Frederick Law Olmsted-designed Park System, the first of its kind in the nation. In partnership with Erie County, the City of Buffalo and the community, the Conservancy works to revitalize Delaware, Cazenovia, Front, Martin Luther King, Jr., Riverside and South Parks and their connecting parkways, circles and other spaces. World-renown as the “Father of Landscape Architecture,” Olmsted also designed the Parkside neighborhood, the grounds of the H.H. Richardson Complex, Niagara Square, and the Niagara Falls State Park, as well as New York’s Central Park, the grounds of the U.S. Capitol and the White House, Yosemite National Park and famous parks and green spaces throughout North America. To learn more about the Conservancy, call 838-1249 or visit http://www.joinolmsted.org.

PRESS RELEASE- Oishei Foundation Grant

$307,000 GRANT AWARDED TO BUFFALO OLMSTED PARKS CONSERVANCY
FOR 20-YEAR PARKS PLAN
FROM THE JOHN R. OISHEI FOUNDATION

The John R. Oishei Foundation has awarded a $307,000 grant to the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy for support of its 20-Year Parks Management & Restoration Plan. The plan concept, modeled after Central Park in New York City, will serve as a restoration roadmap for our Olmsted parks in Buffalo. In total, the Management and Restoration Plan is expected to cost $655,500. The Conservancy had already raised $168,190 in addition to the Oishei grant and is currently raising the remaining $180,000.

The Oishei grant will fund the Conservancy’s Design Center, responsible for creating and publishing the plan, and for several important park demonstration projects including the installation of historic pathways and system wide signage, and the creation of “no mow zones” which will enhance the landscape variety in each of the six major Olmsted parks. The grant will also fund a series of “Open House” meetings for the public to review the plan.

"We are very pleased to be a partner in this significant effort that will provide a road map for the future care and management of our treasured Olmsted Park system." commented Thomas E. Baker, President of The John R. Oishei Foundation.

“As the newly appointed stewards of Buffalo’s Olmsted Park system, the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy is extremely honored to receive this substantial grant,” said Deborah Ann Trimble, the Conservancy’s Executive Director. “We can now move forward with our efforts to plan for the complete restoration of the parks, restoring the vision of Olmsted and returning these parks to vibrant community gathering places.”

On July 1, 2004, the Conservancy entered into a management agreement with Erie County to manage, operate and maintain Buffalo’s historic Olmsted Park system. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the system encompasses 75 percent of the city’s parkland. This is the first time in the nation that a not-for-profit organization has been selected to oversee an entire park system.

It is the vision of the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy to become the top park management organization in the country, known for implementation of visionary urban planning and best practices in park management and operations.

The John R. Oishei Foundation’s mission is to enhance the quality of life for Buffalo area residents by supporting education, healthcare, scientific research and the cultural, social, civic and other charitable needs of the community. The Foundation was established in 1940 by John R. Oishei, founder of Trico Products Corporation, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of windshield wiper systems.

The Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy, now in its 26th year, maintains Buffalo’s historic Frederick Law Olmsted-designed Park System, the first of its kind in the nation. In partnership with Erie County, the City of Buffalo and the community, the Conservancy works to revitalize Delaware, Cazenovia, Front, Martin Luther King, Jr., Riverside and South Parks and their connecting parkways, circles and other spaces. World-renown as the “Father of Landscape Architecture,” Olmsted also designed the Parkside neighborhood, the grounds of the H.H. Richardson Complex, Niagara Square, and the Niagara Falls State Park, as well as New York’s Central Park, the grounds of the U.S. Capitol and the White House, Yosemite National Park and famous parks and green spaces throughout North America. To learn more about the Conservancy, call 838-1249 or visit http://www.joinolmsted.org.

For More Information: Joy Testa Cinquino, marketing & pr manager, 716-838-1249 ext. 17, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

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Party for the Parks - British Invasion!