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THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



PARKS AND THEIR USES. 



The word "park" originally in English referred t;j 

 a place for the preservation of deer for the chase, and 

 was characterized by broad stretches of pasture and 

 woods and contained ponds or running water, rustic 

 bridges, thickets of bushes, water, trees, etc. But of 

 late years the Avord park may designate the grounds 

 surrounding a private estate, a recreation ground 

 known as a large rural park, a small city park, a neigh- 

 borhood pleasure ground, a square, a place or a gar- 

 den, parkways or boulevards or outlying reservations ; 

 in fact, the word may mean almost any form of a rec- 

 reation place where trees and shrubs form a part. One 

 i:)f the practical things a park man should imderstand 

 is the proper use of each of the foregoing places. 



Our large Chicago parks were originally intended 

 as breathing spots, where the tired business man or 

 city w^orker could relax by strolling, picnicing or driv- 

 ing, sit on grass or otherwise enjoy and rest himself 

 in a quiet way, and very little attention was given to 

 space for such games as tennis, baseball, golf, etc. .As 

 the city continues to grow the demand for space in 

 our parks for these games is continually increasing 

 until a point has been reached where the original pur- 

 pose of the park is lost track of and the large parks, 

 such as Lincoln, Jackson, Washington, Humboldt, 

 Garfield and Douglas are rapidly being converted into 

 playgrounds. I believe that this is wrong and that no 

 more space should be alloted in these parks for game? 

 for the following reasons, unless, of course, more 

 space is provided. We have nine classes of park 

 visitors, as I see it, as follows : 



Class 1 — Children, boys and girls, up to 12 or 1 + 

 years of age. 



Class 2 — Young men and young women, from 14 t.i 

 21 vears of age, not accompanied by parents. 



Class 3 — .\dults, couples of men and w<imen or 



company. 

 Class 4- 



--\dults, men, single or in groups of two or 

 -.Adults, women, single or in groups of two 



more. 



Class 5- 

 or more. 



Class 6 — Family groups, man, wife and children, or 

 picnic groups. 



Class 7 — .Automobile drivers and those using con- 

 veyances. 



Class 8 — Equestrians. 



Class 9 — Invalids and old people. 



Taking all of the foregoing classes into considera • 

 tion, it is obvious that no one park, even of a very 

 large extent, can furnish adequate accommodations 

 for all, especially when you take into consideration 

 the manv forms of recreations usually pertinent to a 

 large park, such as band concerts, croquet, roque, cast- 

 ing clubs, rowing, boat clubs, archery, bicycle races, 

 large picnics, bathing, celebrations and many other 

 forms of recreative events which bring together at 

 one time large groups or crowds in addition to the vis- 

 itors who are interested only in floral displays, the 

 zoological garden and similar attractions and those 

 who simply pass through the park on their way to and 

 from work or for other reasons. 



The main purpose of a large city park is to furnish a 

 means of relaxation to the great mass of city toilers 

 from the routine of city life and who find recreation 

 in simply strolling among the trees and flowers, rest 

 the eye on green grass, breathe the fresh air and re- 

 turn to the crowded homes refreshed. .Since the great 

 growth of population, and perhaps great growth of 



popularity of our large parks were not adequately 

 conceived, or, for other reasons, we now find them too 

 congested for all recreation features, it behooves us, 

 therefore, at this time to study means by which the 

 greatest number of people can find recreation in the 

 limited area available. In order to do this intelligently 

 it is necessary to draw distinct lines betwen play and 

 other forms of recreation. By play I mean tennis, 

 baseball, football or .any other form of athletics where- 

 in competition plays a part, also gymnastics of all 

 kinds, etc., etc. For this form of play the park space 

 is limited. By recreation I mean concerts, seeing the 

 animals, seeing the flowers, in and out of the conserva- 

 tory; picnics, boating, promenading and young couples 

 communing with nature and planning their future. 



Having made a careful analysis of the kinds of peo- 

 ple who visit the parks and the kinds of games played 

 and the various recreations sought, we next proceed 

 to divide all play and forms of recreation into two 

 classes. 



These games and forms of recreation which can be 

 best enjoyed and managed in a limited area should be 

 confined to small parks, school buildings, field houses 

 or vacant lots, and the other forms of recreation are 

 those that can only be carried on in a large park. The 

 result will show that the small parks and playground 

 movement is of the greatest importance, because, as 

 I said before, the areas and facilities in large parks are 

 limited, while the field for advancement in the play- 

 ground movement can go forward for many years, or 

 as long as there is vacant property or property with 

 old, cheap buildings that can be purchased for a rea- 

 sonable ])rice. Then, too, I believe the public school 

 buildings should be available for many forms of rec- 

 reations, such as lectures, concerts, meetings and even 

 dances. 



While I believe that our present fine field houses 

 now operated by our park systems are none too good 

 for the pur])ose, the initial expense for these buildings 

 is enormous. If we e.xpect to expand rapidly in the 

 playground movement, we must save our money for 

 the purchase of land for playground field houses and 

 construct cheaper buildings. On the other hand, I 

 also believe that all games and recreations in the play- 

 grounds should be properly supervised and directed, so 

 that children may be taught the value of correct meth- 

 ods and that fairness shall prevail. W'ithout supervi- 

 sion, a playground will soon lose its eft'ectiveness in 

 the community and will be ruled by a few persons or 

 by a gang, who will make others feel that they are 

 unwelcome. 



Time will not jjermit me to dwell longer on this sub- 

 ject. In conclusion, however, there are three points I 

 wish to emphasize : 



First — We must stop crowding our large parks with 

 games and recreations that can better be taken care 

 of in the small playgrounds for the reason that if we 

 continue, the large ]jarks will be ruined for the purpose 

 for which they were originally intended, viz.. that of 

 furnishing rest and rural recreation for the great mass 

 of city workers. 



Second — W'hen this point is well considered, it will 

 readily be seen that the field of endeavor for our pres- 

 ent needs lies in the playground movement. 



Third — When the dividing line between large parks 

 and playgrounds is closely understood, park workers 

 and playground workers will then join hands and op- 

 erate in perfect harmonv. 



[Address bv Superintendent E. A. Kanst, of Lincoln 

 Park. Before 'the Chieao:<f City Club. May 19, 1915.] 



