II 



THE REHABILITATION AND 



COMPLETION OF 

 CENTRAL PARK, NEW YORK 



Fifty-three years ago the construction of 

 Central Park was well under way. General Viele 

 had prepared a plan and Mr. Frederick Law 

 Olmsted was Superintendent of Parks. Something 

 had been done but not a great deal, so that when 

 dissatisfaction with the way things were going de- 

 veloped, it was not difficult to call a halt and ad- 

 vertise for the best plan and to offer an adequate 

 reward. 



The Greensward plan of Calvert Vaux and 

 Frederick Law Olmsted took the prize, and 

 thereafter both of these artists retained during 

 their lives a more or less dominating influence for 

 good over the carrying out of the design of Central 

 Park, It is largely due to these conditions that 

 we have Central Park as it is to-day; though per- 

 haps the result is still more due to the fact that 

 there were intelligent citizens in New York, Mr. 

 Andrew H. Green among the number, who were 

 willing to fight long and hard for the retention of 

 the original design. 



It might be well to note that the design of Central 

 Park means the working out of several ideas, which 



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