Senate Resolution No. 3415

BY: Senator KENNEDY

COMMEMORATING the 150th Anniversary of the Buffalo
Olmsted Park System

WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body that the quality
of life of the citizens of the State of New York is greatly enriched by
the availability of exceptional recreational facilities; and

WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its
long-standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to
commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Buffalo Olmsted Park System;
and

WHEREAS, The Buffalo Olmsted Park System, which has brought beauty
and pleasure into the lives of Buffalo residents for 150 years, is
unique in many respects; and

WHEREAS, In 1868 Frederick Law Olmstead, America's first and most
known landscape architect, was invited to develop a central park for
Buffalo; he instead advised Buffalo residents that its community would
be better served by a system of parks and parkways; and

WHEREAS, This esteemed man and his partner, Calvert Vaux, built what
became the first park system in the nation; and

WHEREAS, The first three parks, now known as Delaware Park, Front
Park and Martin Luther King Jr. Park, were connected by parkways to give
the sense of a whole park; and

WHEREAS, Delaware Park was designed in the image of pastoral
parklands in England, and was the home of the 1901 Pan-American
Exposition; Front Park, designed in 1871, was one of Olmsted's first
successful waterfront park development proposals; and

WHEREAS, Throughout its distinguished 150-year history, Olmsted
Parks expanded to incorporate the southern parts of the city as well as
the waterfront with South Park, Cazenovia Park and Riverside Park; and

WHEREAS, Today, the Buffalo Olmsted Park System is comprised of six
parks, seven parkways, eight landscaped circles and several smaller
spaces; in addition, canopies of green were designed to allow visitors
to walk from one park to another without leaving the serenity of green
spaces; and

WHEREAS, The Buffalo Olmsted Park System was added to the National
Register of Historic Places in 1982, and currently has more than one
million visitors annually; and

WHEREAS, The Buffalo Friends of Olmsted Parks was established to
save and preserve the beauty of this system; now known as the Buffalo
Olmsted Parks Conservancy, it is the first nonprofit organization in the
nation to manage and operate an entire historic urban park system; and

WHEREAS, Throughout the seasons, Olmsted Parks serve as a
destination much appreciated by the residents of Buffalo, New York, and
visitors who seek the historical, cultural, and recreational resources
of the area; it is a source of pride and community heritage to all the
people of this great Empire State; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Buffalo Olmsted Park System;
and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy.