Seattle’s Park Chief Wanted a Boulevard Before the Speculators Got There

Report of Superintendent E. O. Schwagerl for the Year.

The parks of Seattle comprise 33 acres and are to become the most attractive in the city. During the past year the work of improvement has not been as extensive as could be desired, owing partly to a lack of funds. The department is entirely dependent upon an income derived from fines, penalties and tax, and during the year general and extreme stringency demanded the exercise of careful and rigid economy. In consequence, work upon Kinnear Park has been delayed, and it was found necessary to curtail work on the City Park and the City Nursery. The annual report of the department, submitted by the board of public works to the city council, contains an exhaustive review of the year's work, with valuable recommendations by Mr. Schwagerl. In his address letter Mr. Schwagerl says:

'No possible way can public spirit be more profitably displayed than in a system of parks and driveways, as this is manifestly the most effective means of rendering a city a beautiful and desirable place of residence. Notwithstanding the apparent indifference manifested by some in regard to the development of a system of continuous driveways around the city at the earliest possible date, a large number of property owners and business men continue quietly to agitate the subject, though the general plans proposed during the past two years have proved so comprehensive and vast in extent as to render a commencement along these lines too difficult for the present.

'The city authorities should have the power to decide on a general plan for the future locations and grades of the principal highways, one of which thoroughfares should be specially characterized by a generous width, capable of being parked on either side of the driveway, and also admitting of sidewalks, cycle-ways and side traffic road. This highway should constitute a belt drive, issuing from the city at one end and returning at the other upon the easiest possible grades. Its course, while constituting a grand drive, should penetrate, with both arms, the localities affording direct outlet from and ingress to the city, at the same time it should reach out to the University grounds and the notable places and resorts. The two arms referred to should also connect so as to meet and follow the shore line of Washington.

'If such a continuous boulevard, from 150 to 200 feet wide, as the situation permitted, was once made an assured fact by the city itself, so that no further additions would be accepted except as they conformed to such a plan, a large area of now useless land would immediately become the property of capitalists, whose sagacity would lead them to make improvements in conformity with the plan decided upon by the municipal authorities, and a fresh and promising field would thus be opened for enterprise and the profitable employment of labor.

'The large amount of reliable and valuable data accumulated by the efficient city engineer department and collected from other sources makes such a plan possible at a comparatively trifling expense, and one that would entail nothing further than definitely determining the site.'

Kinnear Park, containing 12.43 acres, received flower beds, shrubbery, lawn care and a new pavilion combining a tool cellar, work room and storage room. Spring planting included trees, perennials and plants valued at $83, bringing the total to $7,280.65. The report notes that many native plants thrive there.

In City Park, a tract of forty acres, the young forest was so thick that most of the trees were growing into ungainly shapes. The first work of thinning consisted of removing useless trees and leaving groups of both coniferous and deciduous varieties. Funds were sufficient only for preliminary work; the slash still lay on the ground and in dry weather fires might destroy the retained trees. The force was clearing, stumping, ploughing and cultivating open areas for the overcrowded nursery. The soil at the north end and middle was found much better than expected. The report urges a permanent plan, including a reservoir that could be built as an attractive lake with waterfalls, or as a rectangular reservoir on the southwest quarter. It notes that the park commands wide views of the Sound, Lake Union and Lake Washington, and that grass-walks and drives following the natural contour would make it a popular pleasure resort. A conservatory, it suggests, would be a valuable addition.

The City Nursery has been enlarged and divided into five departments: the hot-house, hot-beds and cold frames; propagation by cuttings, layers and seedlings; the perennial garden; acclimating less robust varieties; and the regular nursery of trees and shrubs. A lean-to was added to the south end of the hot-house to relieve overcrowding. The department exchanges plants but does not sell them. It also furnished plans for street planting and for improvements about Engine House No. 6 and other public street areas.

In selecting trees for street planting, Schwagerl advised choosing varieties that accord in form and foliage with the general character desired and that suit soil, elevation and exposure. Streets with telegraph lines should have low, flat-growing trees, with wires placed high above or insulated underground. Natural trees grown from seed, he added, are generally more enduring than grafted trees.