Thursday, November 8, 2012

Frederick Law Olmsted(s) and Toronto

Toronto almost had a Frederick Law Olmsted park to call its own. Well, sort of.

In the nineteenth century Frederick Law Olmsted all but created landscape architecture. Most famous for designing New York’s Central Park in the 1850s he had left his mark on parks, grounds and university campuses across North America. When Montreal was contemplating a design for its Mount Royal Park in the 1870s it had called on Olmsted for his expertise.[1]

So, when the city’s Island Committee was considering a redevelopment of the Toronto Island in March, 1902 Olmsted’s name (well, Olmstead, they kept misspelling it) was top of mind. As the committee noted, the city spent money every year dredging and filling on the island, but lacked any master plan to guide it. They suggested the Assessment Commissioner and Park Commissioner draw one up that would look after the placement of waterways, roadways and bridges. But they added “Your committee, believing that this is a matter that should receive most careful consideration, as it embodies the carrying out of improvements of a permanent character which will last for all time to come, feel that the advice of a first-class landscape architect should be secured on the proposed plan now submitted, and with this end in view, it is strongly recommended that the services of Mr. Frederick Law Olmstead, of New York, be secured to advise with the Assessment Commissioner and Park Commissioner on their plans, and that he be paid the sum of $500 for his services.”[2]

The city’s Board of Control wasn’t buying in and at its March 24, 1902 meeting punted the idea back to the Island Committee for reconsideration. The committee stuck to its guns and continued to push for Olmsted at its March 26 meeting and, after the matter was again sent back by the Board of Control, at its April 9 meeting.[3] The Board of Control still wasn’t biting and denied the request again at its May 5 council meeting. The debate was covered in the Toronto Daily Star which had this say, “The question of employing Mr. Olmstead, the United States landscape artist, in laying out the Island again bobbed up, and Mr. J.T. Small, President of the Island Association, pleaded with the Council not to deny the money. If the Council did so, he, with others who desired to se the Island beautified, would take up a subscription, and bring Mr. Olmstead here.
“The matter resolved into a dispute as to whether or not the employment of an expert would reflect upon the abilities of Park Commissioner Chambers, who, ald. Fleming pointed out, had many times been called out of the city and across the line to give advice upon landscape work, some of which had passed under Mr. Olmstead’s hands.”[4]

Despite the Star’s view that the reputation of the city’s park commissioner might be on the line the reality is that this was probably a money issue. The Island Committee finally accepted the Board of Control’s rejection and in July suggested the park commissioner be given the job and that as part of the task he spend a month touring resorts across North America, including Bell Isle in Detroit. The Board of Control agreed, but cut the month long travel budget down to 15 days and the park commissioner was not to leave town until after the Toronto Industrial Exhibition.[5]

Olmsted was a natural choice for the job and its fun to imagine what Toronto Island would have looked like if he had take a direct hand in its development. But by 1902 there was one problem; even if the city had been willing to foot the bill to bring Olmsted in, he wouldn’t have been able to come.  The landscape architect had retired in 1895 and was in poor health during his remaining years. He died August 28, 1903.[6]

The Island Committee may have known of Olmsted’s retirement and been referring to his son, Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. who, with his step-brother John Charles Olmsted had formed Olmsted Brothers in 1898 and were carrying on as landscape architects. Whether they meant Olmstead Jr. or Sr. is never specified, but the reverence with which they speak of the man suggests it was the father. The son, however, would get to leave his stamp on Toronto. The Toronto Harbour Commission used Olmsted Jr. as a consultant on its waterfront development plan in 1912; forever linking the city to the famous name.

The committee wouldn’t be the first or last to mix up father and son; the Globe and Mail did the same thing in a story earlier this year when it referenced the 1912 plan and said, “the legendary landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted proposed a bridge over the Eastern Gap as part of his master plan for the new Toronto Harbour Commission.”[7]


[1] Nancy D. Pollock‐Ellwand (2006): The Olmsted firm in Canada: a correction of the
record, Planning Perspectives, 21:3, 277-310. Page 289.
[2] Report No. 4 of the Island Committee, WM Burns, chairman, March 18, 1902, City Council 1902 Appendix A, Page 234, Toronto City Archive.
[3] Report No. 5 of the Island Committee, William Burns, chairman, March 26, 1902, City Council 1902 Appendix A, Page 280, Toronto City Archive. Report No. 5 of the Island Committee, William Burns, chairman, April 9, 1902, City Council 1902 Appendix A, Page 374, Toronto City Archive.
[4] “Tie Vote on a Plea for the Employment of a Foreign Landscape Artist,” The Toronto Daily Star, Tuesday, May 6, 1902, Page 2.
[5] Report No. 6 of the Island Committee, William Burns, chairman, July 9, 1902, City Council 1902 Appendix A, Page 662, Toronto City Archive.
[6] FrederickLawOlmsted.com: A Short Biography http://www.fredericklawolmsted.com/bioframe.htm. See also "F. L Olmsted is Dead; End Comes to Great Landscape Architect at Waverly, Mass. Designer of Central and Prospect Parks and Other Famous Garden Spots of American Cities." New York Times. August 29, 1903.
[7] John Lorinc, “As lineups fester at the ferry docks, the city looks to a solution – slowly,” The Globe and Mail. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/as-lineups-fester-at-the-ferry-docks-the-city-looks-to-a-solution----slowly/article4381883/

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