The following year, Olmsted would layout the sequence of events concerning the plans for a zoo, concluding with the fact that the plan to build the zoo on the North Meadow was "set aside, for the reason that it involved the complete diversion from its original purpose of the best part of the Central Park." He goes on to say that "[a] large building which was nearly completed was ordered to be removed and the ground restored to its former condition."1
A World's Fair The North Meadow has been suggested repeatedly for various functions and constructions for which it was never intended. In 1881 and again in 1889, the North Meadow was suggested as a "fitting site" for the World's Fair. 2 Some interesting ideas came with the proposal: An effort was made to stage the Columbian Exposition in Central Park, a prospect that was welcomed by the mayor and park commissioners, one of whom had the brilliant idea of digging up all the trees on North \1eadow, planting them temporarily in another spot, then moving them back at the conclusion of the fair.3 Another proposal called for the "establishment of a swimming bath, a wading pool, ... and a nursery on the North Meadow, but it met with so much opposition that it was not pushed. "4
Deteriorating Conditions According to Frederick La", Olmsted, Jr. and Theodora Kimball, wntmg in 1927, "[t]he deterioration of Central Park with respect to soil and trees became so marked in 1900, that the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society" commissioned a "critical examination of the Park."5 Another study was done in 1902 and again in 1910,6 apparently with no follow-up on the recommendations.
10lmsted & Vaux, letter to the Han. S. H. Wales, President of the Board (October 11th, 1873), in Olmsted, Fortv Years. 506. 2Henry Hope Reed and Sophia Duckworth, Central Park - A Historv and a Guide (New York: Clarkson N. Potter, Inc., 1967), 125. 3M. M. Graff, Central Park & Prospect Park - A New Perspective (New York: Greensward Foundation, Inc., 1985),59. 416th Annual Report (1911), 486. 50lmsted, Forty Years. 167. 60lmsted, Forty Years, 167-68.
Central Park North Meadow Historical Report
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