COMMUNICATION FROM THE MAYOR. MAYOR'S OFFICE, BUFFALO, Nov. 23d, 1868. To the Honorable COMMON COUNCIL: Gentlemen:-I have the honor to transmit herewith the accompanying communication from a committee of your fellow citizens, who, with a commendable public spirit, invited the well-known and distinguished landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted, Esq., to visit the city and present his views in reference to a public park. I took the liberty on a former occasion of directing the attention of your honorable body to this subject, and to urge upon the Council the importance of acquiring at an early day the land necessary for securing to our people the benefits to be derived from a public park, proportionate to the wants of a large and steadily increasing population. The report of Mr. Olmsted, it will be seen, presents a plan which, in many of its features, corresponds with the suggestions then made, and with the ideas on this subject held, I believe, by a large majority of our citizens who have given the subject attention. Its perusal, I feel confident, cannot fail to impress on the public mind the vastness of the benefit which the city has now in its power, by prompt action, to secure to itself. Indeed, few cities enjoy equal advantages with our own of securing a large tract of land so well adapted to park purposes, and at comparatively small cost, if the opportunity now presented is at once taken advantage of. I therefore respectfully recommend that a special committee of five members of the Council be appointed to co-operate with the citizens' committee for the purpose of securing the enactment of a law clothing the Council with authority to acquire, by purchase or otherwise, the land and property necessary to carry out the object in view, and to issue the bonds of the city for the payment and improvement of the same. I beg leave also to recommend that the report of Mr. Olmsted be printed in the minutes and referred to such joint committee, with instructions to report the result of its deliberations to the Council at an early day. Respectfully submitted, WM. F. ROGERS, Mayor. LETTER FROM THE CITIZENS' COMMITTEE. BUFFALO, Nov. 16, 1868. To HON. WM. F. ROGERS, Mayor of Buffalo : Sir:-The undersigned, a committee appointed at a a meeting of citizens held at the residence of S. S. Jewett, Esq., on the 25th of August last, herewith transmit to you a communication addressed to one of the undersigned, by Frederick Law Olmsted, of New York. The letter of Mr. Olmsted relates to the project of the establishment of a park in Buffalo. This subject has, of late, been much discussed by the press of the city, and even more, we believe, in private circles. It was thought advisable to obtain the opinion of some competent landscape architect upon the various questions involved in the enterprise, but more particularly to ascertain what scheme of improvement could be carried out within the limits of a reasonable expenditure. Mr. Olmsted was the architect-in-chief of the Central Park in New York; he is now engaged upon Prospect Park in Brooklyn, and upon similar enterprises in other cities. In view of his large experience, there was no one so likely as he to give the information which was desired. Accordingly several gentlemen, at their own expense, procured Mr. Olmsted's services. He came to Buffalo and spent several days in a survey of the suburbs of the city, and his views are presented in the accompanying communication. It was the intention of the gentlemen who have interested themselves in this matter, merely to give form to a project which was entirely undefined, in the hope that they might excite a thorough discussion of the matter, and that the Common Council and the Legislature might be led to take some definite action towards the accomplishment of a work so important to the citizens of Buffalo. We venture to request that you will transmit Mr. Olmsted's letter to the Honorable the Common Council, with such recommendations as, in your judgment, the present and future interests of the city may require. Very respectfully, Your servants, PASCAL. P. PRATT, RICHARD FLACH, JOSEPH WARREN, WILLIAM DORSHEIMER. |