The revitalization of Schoellkopf Park is being honored by Preservation Buffalo Niagara at its annual awards ceremony next month. The historic park's restoration, thanks to the efforts of Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center, landscape architect Joy Kuebler, and donors and volunteers, is being recognized under the landscape preservation category.
Award categories were established to acknowledge distinguished contributions to our community through preservation activity. Recipients will be recognized in the following areas: restoration; rehabilitation/adaptive use; stewardship; landscape preservation; neighborhood conservation; preservation service; and education and outreach.
Schoellkopf Park, adjacent to Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center and bounded by Pine Avenue, Portage Road and Walnut Avenue, was once a showplace, celebrated for its magnificent flower beds, luxurious plans, abundant shade trees, benches and central fountain. The Park was given to the City in 1913 in memory of Arthur Schoellkopf, a former mayor and civic leader and son of hydropower pioneer Jacob Schoellkopf. In its heyday, upwards of 1,000 people a day visited the urban oasis, which originally spanned three acres.
In later years, the addition of homes and streets chipped away at the park and the park was reduced to half its size. The City transferred ownership of the park to the Medical Center in the 1960s. By then, time and neglect had taken their toll on the park. Little remained but the stately pillars that flanked the entranceway and a few sturdy trees that once formed a leafy canopy.
Approximately five years ago, Memorial Medical Center made a commitment to not only restore elements of the historic park, but to make it handicapped accessible and create a dynamic feature of the area surrounding the hospital. A plan was forged with help from the Niagara Falls Department of Community Development and the graduate School of Architecture at the University at Buffalo. The City committed $125,000 to kick-off the restoration effort.
Working from a handful of photographs of the original park, landscape architect Joy Kuebler took the plan from concept to reality.
The restoration plan, with a price tag of $600,000, was carried out in two phases. The first, which got underway in June 2006, included construction of walkways, planting beds, and the restoration of the historic piers. Stone paths were designed to loop around three circular plantings areas, one of which featured a fountain similar to the one found in the original park.
The second phase, which began in the summer of 2007, saw the installation of additional plantings, bench seating to closely match the historic furnishings and multiple styles of lighting, from hanging baskets to bollards. In a layout reminiscent of the historic park, elms, oaks, redbuds and ivory silk lilacs were added to the existing trees. A three-foot high decorative steel fence and piers were added to see off the perimeter and complement the pillars along Pine Avenue. A signature fountain was installed in 2008.
The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra helped celebrate the impressive renewal of the park with free concerts on the site in 2008 and 2009. A formal rededication ceremony took place on June 22, 2009.
Today, plantings have taken root and the public is embracing the quaint park. Residents of the adjacent Shoellkopf Nursing Home and neighboring senior housing complexes are enjoying the tranquil handicapped-accessible setting. The Medical Center and its neighbor, the Niagara Arts and Cultural Center (former Niagara Falls High School at the southeast corner of Pine and Portage Road), have staged two day-long Arts in the Park events to showcase a wide range of visual and performing arts.
Thanks to the efforts of many, life and beauty have returned to this green gem in the heart of Niagara Falls.
Major donors to the park restoration project included:
• Auxiliary of Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center
• The Baird Foundation
• City of Niagara Falls
• HSBC Bank
• JS Ten Trust
• Martha L. MacAskill
• NYS Environmental Protection Fund
• Niagara Falls Bridge Commission
• The John R. Oishei Foundation
• Estate of Velma F. Rice
• Schoellkopf Family Members
• Seymour H. Knox Foundation
In addition, some 130 individual gifts totaling nearly $100,000 were made to the community campaign.
Park Long Ago:
Park Not Too Long Ago:
Park Now:
Gorgeous work. Truly. We need a pocket park, with some fabulous sculptures, like this at Main/Edward-which is an embarrassing entry to downtown.