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Harrison Parkway Restoration |
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In 2001 Katie Speck lead the restoration of Harrison Parkway. This
has literally been an historic renovation. The project committee studied
documentary evidence, including George Kessler's pen and ink drawings of
the Parkway, early photographs, old aerial studies and actual stump
remains to determine where to put new trees. Kessler conceived the park
as an unstructured space, with specimen trees, "woody" groves and open
spaces occurring as they might naturally. We've followed his lead, while
taking into account how the park is actually used. The "dog park"
remains open for our four footed friends, the sledding hill off Manheim
is still a clear slide, the lawn below Sion is open for games, and
important sight lines that draw the eye up or through the area have been
preserved. The first phase of the project involved removing 150
trees. Most were scrub/volunteers and some were dying. Since then,
natural attrition has claimed others. One of the major efforts has been
and continues to be the removal of all the shrub or bush honeysuckles.
They had been planted as ornamentals in the early 1900s and as wildlife
food plants. The plant is non-native and the state of Missouri considers
it an exotic plant that "Won't Stay Put." Birds eat the fruits and
spread the seeds. Where shrub honeysuckle grows, it often replaces the
native shrubs. In the spring of 2004 188 trees were planted in the
parkway. The 21 different species include seven types of oaks, dogwoods,
crab apples, maples, kentucky coffee trees, pines, spruces and American
Sycamores. Before any physical work started on the project, Dave
Anderson, a resident photographer, took pictures of the parkway so that
we would be able to track the progress of the restoration. As part of
this effort, he also take photos of the parkway from the same vantage
points as the historic photos. Although the 2002 photos were taken in the
winter time, one can see that a significant number of the historic trees
have been lost. Also one can see how the street trees that were planted
in the 1980's do not fit the natural design Kessler implmented. The
historic photographs are courtesy of the Parks, Recreation and
Boulevards Department of Kansas City, Missouri.
West side of Gillham, north of Westport Junior
High School, Locust street did not go through and the Eagle Scout
Memorial is not there. Right stone wall still exists. Remanents of the
Santa Fe Trail are north of the middle stone wall.
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Looking east from west side of Gillham at
curve before 39th Street. Date unknown. Pre Eagle Scout Memorial.
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Northeast from 39th Street. 1907. School
road has been slightly relocated.
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Northeast off of 39th Street. 1939 Edge of
school road shown on left. Holmes street is where the second vehicle is
and the men are getting ready to cross.
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Man is standing north of Manheim Road and
west of Campbell Street. 1931. Mayor Bryce Smith's house in background.
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South side of Harrison Parkway between
Campbell Street and Harrison Boulevard. 1909. Sycamores are still
standing so must be at least 200 years old.
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South side of Harrison Parkway looking at
Campbell and Gleed Terrace. 1932. Same sycamores as previous picture.
Most of the 1909 trees have been lost except for the now towering oak at
the southwest corner of Gleed Terrace and Campbell St.
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Additional pre-restoration pictures were taken of Harrison Parkway in 2002.
North side of Harrison Parkway east of Eagle Scout Memorial
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Between 39th and Harrison Parkway to Holmes.
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North of 39th Street looking toward Janssen Place
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Northwest from Harrison Parkway and Holmes Street
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Southeast from Holmes across Harrison Parkway to Manheim Raod
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West from southeast corner of Campbell Street and Harrison Parkway
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Parks & Blvds. 
