I've been going through all the material I photocopied from the Library of Congress'  Olmsted Associates Records.  I decided to copy records not specifically related to Pulaski Park, from other work the Olmsted Firm completed for the city of Holyoke.  I thought it might provide some interesting context.  Context indeed!  I came across a very interesting letter. 

In 1907, Holyoke's Mayor Avery commissioned (and the Aldermen funded) the Olmsted firm to plan for Holyoke's growth.  Holyoke was the first industrial planned city, and it's growth beyond the initial layout by the Hadley Falls Company was happening in a haphazard way that irritated Mayor Avery. Olmsted completed the plan, but the Mayor was not at all happy with the results.  He wrote back to Olmsted,

"While Holyoke is a manufacturing city and is dingy enough in many ways, it has a rare location.  Many of its citizens are alive to the possibilities of this location but there are many more of its citizens who do not see these possibilities at all.  If something could be said which would work to open the eyes of this last named class, it would seem to me helpful."

Wow.  What do you think about what Mayor Avery had to say 100 YEARS AGO!

 
 

I have NO idea if this worked or not, but I created a walking tour of Pulaski Park on Google Maps and tried to import it to our 'What's New?' page.  Feel very very free to add your pictures to the tour!

 
 

Hi folks!  Friends of Pulaski Park has been in contact with Pan Am railroad since our last blog entry, and they have been nothing but helpful and willing to cooperate with our river view clearing project.  They are investigating one way to go for the view clearing.  Once they've completed their due diligence, we'll know more about how this work can proceed, who will be responsible for what, and who's going to pay for the work.  These things, as I'm sure you know, take time.

I toured the park with an environmental consultant, and he tells us that there are large specimens and vast quantities of invasive species on Pan Am's property, species such as Honeysuckle, Norway Maple, Black Locust, and Asiatic Bittersweet.  Why do we care?  Two reasons:  One, according to this consultant,  environmental regulations encourage Invasive Species Removal because they choke off native tree species and other native species.   Some of these trees, however, are 40 feet tall, so I'm not sure how they get taken out.  The environmental consultant said erosion control is managed by replanting an area with low-growing native species.  Two, the vine-type invasive species, especially bittersweet and honeysuckle, will eventually choke off and kill trees, which would then create a dangerous situation for the railroad.

There is also an environmentally allowable view clearing option called "Vista Pruning."  Vista Pruning allows 10% of a canopy to be strategically thinned to open up a view. 

Bear in mind that even though the two types of clearing outlined above are ALLOWABLE, we would still need to seek an ENVIRONMENTAL PERMIT from the city, the state, or the feds, depending.  More time, more money.

Wish us luck, and if you'd like to help down the road, please sign in on our 'Support Pulaski Park' page.