NEIGHBOURHOOD PARKS 



usage to get a tree up to the point where it will take care of itself. 

 Shrub planting, while permissible, should be attempted in an experi- 

 mental way, with only the coarse-growing varieties that will not com- 

 mand special attention. It will not be possible to have much turf in 

 the design on account of the impossibility of maintenance, for it will be 

 found that the entire area will come in for pretty constant usage and 

 the problem will be one of sweeping the park rather than mowing it. 

 If flower display is attempted at all, it had better be in a concentrated 

 fashion, laid out in one or more beds of considerable size and frankly 

 locked up within a protecting picket fence. Although, in that sense, 

 it may present the character of something to be peeked in at like an 

 animal at the Zoo, it will be found that flower display in tenement 

 districts can be maintained in no other way. 



PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL WELFARE 



The character of parks in tenement districts should be very plain 

 and unpretentious with little ornamental display. Ornamentation will 

 not only be out of keeping but be in a sense irritating to the many who 

 may be undergoing struggles of poverty. The character of the park 

 should be a grade higher than that to which they are accustomed, which 

 will not form sufficient contrast to cause resentment, and yet encour- 

 age a desire in them for something better. 



There may be architectural accessories such as shelters and pa- 

 vilions, together with necessary fences, copings, et cetera. Fountains 

 are sure to be used for mischief or to take the place of the bathing 

 facilities which should be provided by the city in proper way. If a 

 statue is to be lodged in one of these parks, let it be placed so as to seem 

 as little in the way as possible. Also let it be of an educational character 

 or such as will inspire patriotism and loyalty to country, preferably an 

 inscribed shaft or monument commemorating some notable event in the 

 history of our country rather than a grotesque effigy.* 



* See chapter on Statues and Effigies in Parks. 



104 



