277 



It w,as, however, thought necessary to reserve so much of the 

 ground on the east side of Flatbush avenue as was required to 

 prevent the erection of private dwellings within two hundred and 

 fifty feet of the basin of the reservoir, together with ample sites for 

 any public institutions which it might be desirable in the future to 

 place in the vicinity of the park, care being taken that the latter 

 should not stand in the way of the most convenient possible street 

 arrangements. The ground around the reservoir was designed to 

 be laid out as a public garden ; not because it was wanted as an 

 appendage to the park, but because it was a convenient way to pro- 

 tect the reservoir from a too close apparent proximity to possible 

 private constructions which might suggest to visitors the possibility 

 of a pollution of its contents. By a foot bridge over Flatbush 

 avenue, however, the garden was planned to serve the purpose of a 

 pleasant approach to the park from Washington avenue. All this 

 could be done without encroaching upon any desirable lines of street 

 communication. 



It will be observed that the advantages of the plan, as thus set 

 forth, are mainly found in conditions, the value of which will be pal- 

 pable to all upon an examination of maps. The superior landscape 

 capabilities which we have claimed for the ground west of Flatbush 

 avenue may, however, be considered a matter of opinion. We shall, 

 therefore, attempt to briefly indicate a few of the main particulars in 

 which the park, as now designed, appears to us to possess advan- 

 tages in the promise of scenery appropriate to its purpose, over any 

 that would be available in a park planned to be situated either wholly 

 or in part on the east side of the avenue. 



From many points of the drives, rides and walks, the eye will 

 range over a meadow-like expanse, wherein the first definite obstruc- 

 tion or break in the turfy surface will be at least half a mile away, 

 sometimes considerably more than that, and in which tree tops will 

 be seen in rising perspective fully a mile aAvay. These views will 

 not offer merely peeps, but will comprehend quite broad and well- 

 balanced pastoral landscapes, free from any object which will suggest 

 the vicinity of the city, from which it is the primary purpose of the 

 park to give the means of a ready escape. Views will be had over 

 water surface of equal breadth and distance. The visitor will feel 

 the sense of freedom and repose suggested -by scenes of this charac- 

 ter, and be impressed by their breadth of light and shadow, all the 

 more because they wilL be enjoyed in alternation and contrast with 

 the obscurity of the thick woods already established, through the 

 seclusion which he will be occasionally led. There is hardly a rood 

 of ground in the park which, besides serving its own local purpose, 



