Your Olmsted Parks

The mission of the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy, a 501(c)3 non-profit membership organization, is to promote, preserve, restore, enhance and ensure maintenance of Olmsted parks and parkways in the greater Buffalo area to guarantee Olmsted park experiences for current and future generations.

His Legacy. Our Inheritance. Yours to Enjoy … and Support!

His Legacy. In 1868, after designing New York City’s Central Park, Frederick Law Olmsted visited Buffalo and designed the first urban park system in the country.

Our Inheritance. Since 2004, the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy, a membership-based nonprofit organization, has cared for and maintained Buffalo’s most historic treasure. The key to the Conservancy’s success has been the public-private partnership with the City of Buffalo and all of its generous park supporters. One-third of the $3.4 million annual budget comes from our trusted partner, the City of Buffalo, while the Conservancy raises the remaining two-thirds from members, donors, foundations and special events.

Yours to enjoy … and support! We invite you to enjoy your beautiful Olmsted parks … walk, jog, golf, picnic, play, relax and refresh. And we also invite you to become an Olmsted parks supporter. Your support today will allow the Conservancy to carry on Olmsted’s vision and maintain this historic gem for the generations of tomorrow.

Support Your Olmsted Parks

Our members and supporters are the core of the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy. Your generous support allows our dedicated team to preserve, protect, restore and maintain the six parks, seven parkways, and eight landscaped circles … all 850 acres. We count on your financial support to keep our parks beautiful, clean, and safe for all to enjoy!
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What’s Happening in the Parks?

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Wed 20

VOLUNTEER AT OLMSTED: Mount Mercy Academy

September 20 @ 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Fri 22

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Light The Night Walk

September 22 @ 5:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Sat 23

Elmwood Village Farmers Market (Bidwell Parkway)

September 23 @ 8:00 am - 1:00 pm
Sat 23

7th Annual Donate Life Walk for Unyts

September 23 @ 10:00 am - 1:00 pm
Sat 23

OLMSTED EVENT: Historical Bike Tour of Olmsted’s West Side

September 23 @ 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
SEE OUR FULL CALENDAR
READ MORE NEWS

Perfect day out for a stroll of the Japanese Garden & its self-guided mobile audio tour, presented by @Wegmans:… https://t.co/fYysixl8HZ
- Tuesday Sep 19 - 1:36pm

What’s Your Olmsted Story?

“My favorite Olmsted landscape? Close to home is Symphony Circle. It’s often a destination in neighborhood walks with my son, to collect horse chestnuts or just to sit in the shade and watch people as they go by.”
Andy Rabb
Deputy Commissioner for Parks and Recreation, City of Buffalo
“My daughter and I travel each day down Richmond Avenue on her way to Leonardo DaVinci High School at D’Youville. For the first few weeks of school I would quiz her on the names of the circles and parkway that we pass. We’ve decided we both adore Ferry Circle, but we like to think of it as ‘Fairy Circle’ with its fluffy ornamental grasses, happy flowers and imaginative appeal. It’s a magical, marvelous Olmsted landscape.”

Stephanie Crockatt
Executive Director, Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy
“I have wonderful memories of when my dad would take my sister and me ice skating in Humboldt Park (now MLK Jr. Park).”

Janis Dunworth
Spring into Summer Luncheon '15, '16, '17 Co-Chair & MassMutual Financial Group – New York State
“My favorite Olmsted landscape? Delaware Park and Lincoln Parkway … screams Olmsted!”

Kevin Kelly
Chair, 150th Celebration
“When I was four-years old, I got my foot caught in the ‘monkey tree’ at Cazenovia Park. All of my friends ran home to tell my mom … she brought her trusty bottle of Crisco oil and was able to ‘set me free.”

Peter Munich
Conservancy Event Committee Member & Olmsted Supporter
“While an urban garden and well-kept house are joy, there is a unique connection to nature in the large spaces of land and water in Delaware Park. As a child I sledded on its hills, listened to the park zoo’s elk bellow during fall football practices in the meadow. Even today as I walk my dog around the lake I can see snapping turtles, herons and flocks of goldfinches that remind me of the larger reach of nature that sometimes is forgotten in the surrounding streets of the city.”

Jim Mendola
Historian, Archivist & Conservancy Volunteer
“One of my favorite things is that when you walk around Hoyt Lake, there are several spots where you can’t see anything but trees and water; no power lines, no cell towers, just nature. You might as well be out in the country, even though you are right in the middle of a major urban city.”

Jock Mitchell
Trustee, Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy
“There is no better restful and relaxing area in Buffalo than Delaware Park, a place we take for granted. I learned to golf there with my father in early teenage years. I played basketball and ran (a little) cross-country there during high school. I introduced my children to Shakespeare on its hill, overlooking the Lake, then later coached soccer in the Meadow for many, many years. Not to mention bike rides or simple strolls on its paths. And every once in a while, I simply stop at one of its inviting spots, under an oak or elsewhere gazing at its landscapes, and ruminate about what is yet to come.”

Alan Bozer
Trustee, Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy and son of Joan Bozer, founder of Friends of Olmsted
“Thanks to our amazing staff, everything is possible.”

Bob Stotz
Director of Park Operations, Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy
“I’m getting paid to do what I love to do. It doesn’t get any better than that.”

Eileen Martin
District Supervisor, Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy

About the Conservancy

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 850 acres of beautifully designed parks, parkways and circles.

Our 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.

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A SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR SUPPORTERS