A Model Park for Barrie, Ontario 



WITH the great strides that are be- 

 ing made in park development 

 throughout Canada, there are few 

 undertakings so thorough, original and 

 modern as that recently initiated in Bar- 

 rie, Ontario. The authorities set a high 

 standard at the outset and determined to 

 get the best advice procurable, in a wise 

 faith that there should be a saving in the 

 long run. Mr. George H. Miller, a noted 

 young landscape architect of Boston, 

 Mass., was retained as advising associate 

 for his Canadian representative, Mr. C. 

 Ernest Woolverton, of Grimsby. 



Last summer, Mr. Miller visited Barrie 

 while on a tour inspecting some work in 

 Rochester, Hamilton and Toronto. He 

 was greatly impressed with the future of 

 that town and pointed out to the city of- 

 ficials that some day not in the far future 

 Barrie would not only be an independent 

 industrial junction but also a great centre 

 for high class country estates, and that 

 preparation should be made in advance 

 for the preservation of the natural beauty 

 of the town and landscape and the plan- 

 ning of parks and town extensions in such 

 a way that they should have their full 

 value as assets in bringing about the re- 

 alization of the countryside's best even- 

 tual characterization. 



Barrie has made a beginning in the 

 development of Queen's Park, a ten-acre 

 tract in the better residential section of 

 the town. The improvements are 

 planned in relation to the whole town 

 plan and it is to be a "place for mental 

 and the less violent physical exercises, 

 a space reserved for neighborly diversion 

 with congenial uplifting environment, a 

 residential beauty park, a common ground 

 for quietude, refined intercourse, rest and 

 mental recreation, and for such athletic 

 games as will not be competitive between 

 teams having gregarious followings. " 

 Provision for athletic fields and play- 

 grounds is to be made in other more suit- 

 able locations. Among the features pro- 

 posed are "the great lawn," "the prom- 

 enade," "the outdoor auditorium," "the 

 grove," "the flower mall" and "the 

 ravine." Each feature correlates with the 

 other and takes advantage of the natural 

 existing conditions; of the shape of the 

 tract, of topography, tree growth, natural 

 traffic and views. There will be a central 

 dominant feature in the form of a con- 

 crete pavilion, and there will be a concrete 

 entrance exedra monumental in design, a 

 concrete bridge and many minor features 

 such as belvederes, a spring-nookery and 

 colonade. 



From the local horticulturist's point 

 of view, the matter of planting was one 

 that required great care because of the 

 climatic and soil conditions and the un- 

 attractive arrangement of existing natural 

 growth. In the landscape architect's re- 



port on this subject there is much to in- 

 terest and instruct all planters and park 

 oflficials of Canada. Mr. Miller writes as 

 follows : 



"The planting is used for esthetic and 

 educational purposes and the varieties se- 

 lected are those known to be hardy in the 

 Barrie region either through their being 

 native, tried locally by me, or recom- 

 mended by the Central Experiment Farm 

 at Ottawa. A great many attractive vari- 

 eties which might thrive have been 



omitted from the list, and none included 

 that are not positively determined as 

 above. 



"The soil condition is especially suit- 

 able for a limited number of varieties, 

 such as the Caragana, Corylus, Ceano- 

 thus, etc., which flourish in a dry sandy 

 situation. The fact must be recognized, 

 however, that it would be useless to ex- 

 pect any sufficient number of attractive 

 groupings to be arranged that would 

 flourish in the thin, dry, sandy soil 

 surface of this area without some 

 additional nutriment being supplied. I 

 recommend, therefore, that those trees 

 which are to be placed in the open shall be 

 given an initial growing space of three feet 

 in diameter and eighteen inches deep, filled 

 with good loam, and that the unnutritious 

 parts of the soil now in the locations be 



? t p. r r T 



The Map of Existing Conditions in Qneen's Park, Barrie, Ontario 



Shows much tree growth not of natural origin, but planted bj\tlie hand of man 



190 



