I remember vividly the first time I saw Central Park. A month after arriving in Medicine Hat I was aimlessly biking around the Southeast Hill exploring my new city. I rounded a corner and was confronted with a towering wall of green. It was huge and mysterious. Penetrating through a break in the foliage the interior was no less impressive. Giant cottonwoods dotted the park the highest branches covering the sky with their canopy. Their craggly trunks planted solidly. A true cathedral of trees. Central Park is unlike any park I have even been to and one of the great parks of this city. It is a testament to the contribution great landscape architecture makes to a community and how communities are built over time, with each generation making a new contribution.
Central Park was created over a century ago with a parcel of land donated by E.D. Bennett, a successful land developer in early Medicine Hat. Covering two city blocks it contains an eclectic variety of features. Entering from the north end one sees only giant cottonwoods. Cottonwoods are beautiful trees and no where in Alberta do they grow so tall and wide. In the northeast corner a round mound of earth is circled by a ring of cottonwoods. It’s easy to imagine a Wiccan ceremony taking place at midnight on summer solstice at this sacred grove. On the other boundary is a playground with an old whale slide (a local childhood icon) and a small water park. There is a basketball court and horseshoe pits. But everything feels tiny against the backdrop of the cottonwoods. The impressive wall of trees surrounding Central Park is the defining element. The spaces between the giant cottonwoods filled by thick cedars. Entering the park feels like entering a secret garden.
View of the Northeast corner in Central Park looking towards 9th Street SE (ca. 1913)
A park whose defining characteristic is trees was not created overnight. Photographs from the air in the early 20th century show a clear and dramatic square of green surrounded by light brown prairie. It’s hard to imagine looking at the tree covered SE Hill, but when this city began it was nothing but bald prairie. We often lament the damage humans do to the landscape, but we can also be a force for good. Over the past century the trees of Central Park and of Medicine Hat have dramatically transformed the city into a tree-filled oasis on a sea of prairie.
Like any civic project Central Park has not been without controversy. In 1914 city council was divided on whether to use scarce public funds to add additional features to the park with one Ald. McLean noting that there is nothing but prairie and a few buildings surrounding the park. He would’ve preferred money spent on more developed areas. Passionate letters followed in the Medicine Hat News in support of developing the park for those residents on the SE Hill. The tricky art of anticipating the direction of development and future civic needs has been plaguing city councillors from time immemorial.
Over the years different improvements have been made demonstrating how each generation builds on the work that has come before. A wading pool was added then upgraded to the water park we see today. In 1957 the Kiwanis Club undertook an expansion of the children’s play area as their major project. They contributed $15,000 ($130,000 in 2016 dollars) over several years that saw new playground equipment installed including the slide whale, a shelter and washrooms. Last year a 9-hole disc golf course was installed in Central Park. A perfect illustration of a park evolving to meet the recreational interests of our generation. A great compliment to an already great park. Kudos to the Parks Department.
Postcard. Aerial view of downtown area and the Hill area with Central Park a prominent feature in the foreground. (undated)
Central Park is a reminder that the civic projects we begin today may not fully bloom for 100 years. It’s also a reminder that we don’t need to do everything at once. Central Park was initially a modest park, but each generation has invested time and effort to maintain and expand the park into the civic gem it is today.
By the way, on June 11 the Parks and Recreation Department will be holding a community tree planting event to replace the trees lost due to berm construction along the river. 2300 seedlings will be planted from Lions Park extending into Strathcona Island Park. In 100 years someone else may write about the great grove that this spawns. Register at www.medicinehat.ca/trees
The iconic whale shaped slide in Central Park. (undated)
Thanks to the great team at the Archives at the Esplanade. I relied on the ace researchers Candace, Kim and Philip for these historical nuggets.
Medicine Hat News. May 12, 2016.