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REPORT OF 
 
 CHARLES MULFORD ROBINSON 
 
 WITH REGARD TO 
 
 CIVIC AFFAIRS 
 
 IN THE 
 
 City of Cedar Rapids, Iowa 
 
 WITH RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CITY IMPROVEMENT 
 AND BEAUTIFICATION 
 
 THE TORCH PRESS 
 
 Cedar Rapids 
 
 1908 
 

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 V' 
 
 fVERSi 
 
 Report of 
 Charles Mulford Robinson 
 
 To the Honorable Mayor and Cify Council, Cedar Rapids, Iowa: 
 
 Gentlemen — It is interesting that one 
 of the earliest acts of the first commis- 
 sion government of Cedar Rapids 
 should be the engagement of an out- 
 side adviser, to make a comprehensive 
 survey of the city and to report on its 
 improvement possibilities. The cir- 
 cumstance, sufficiently significant in 
 itself, Js made still more so by the high 
 quality of the new government's per- 
 sonnel. For to a remarkable degree — if I 
 may quote the sentiment generally ex- 
 pressed to me in Cedar Rapids — its 
 members unite high civic spirit and 
 ideals to a long practical experience. 
 The action, which in the abstract was 
 thus significant and interesting, has 
 been naturally to the adviser himself a 
 strong incentive. With very particular 
 interest, therefore, I have the honor to 
 report the following observations and 
 recommendations : 
 
 Cedar Rapids is in some respects pe- 
 culiarly conditioned. No one can visit 
 it for even a day without being im- 
 pressed by five distinct and pleasant 
 municipal characteristics: These are, 
 (1) its generally neat and orderly ap- 
 pearance, a feature so marked and indi- 
 vidual as to have given to it through- 
 out the state the sobriquet of "the par- 
 lor city;" (2) the amount of perma- 
 nent improvements, in pavements, 
 curbs, sidewalks, etc., in proportion to 
 the city's size; (3) the breadth of the 
 streets, their wide side parking be- 
 tween curb and walk and the size and 
 beauty of the trees, so that Cedar Rap- 
 ids seems like a bit of New England 
 transported to Iowa; (4) the beauty 
 of the surrounding country and of the 
 river, which bi- sects the city; and, 
 
 (5), the rapidity, substantial character, 
 and geographical evenness of the city's 
 growth, such that no section is being 
 built up at the expense of another por- 
 tion. There are various other matters 
 which the trained observer will quick- 
 ly note — such, for example, as the ex- 
 cellent distribution of its several park 
 tracts and that the area of these — 
 though by no means generous — seems 
 to be all that the city is at present will- 
 ing to take care of. 
 
 Obviously, one who is to suggest how 
 the city can be improved is pulled two 
 ways: He may be discouraged, be- 
 cause so much has already been done; 
 he may be encouraged, because with so 
 good a start yet better achievements 
 can be looked for. But the growing 
 population of the city is the vital fac- 
 tor. That imposes an obligation to 
 plan, while there yet is time, for Cedar 
 Rapids' greater future; and it gives the 
 courage to plan well, by its assurance 
 of steadily increasing resources. The 
 citizens who venture now to plan on 
 broad lines for the city that will be 
 here in ten or fifteen years, have not 
 need to be nearly as brave as were their 
 forefathers, who so splendidly laid out 
 the city. If today's citizens show 
 themselves at all worthy successors of 
 the pioneers, much will certainly be 
 done. 
 
 I conceive it, therefore, to be my duty 
 not only to make suggestions for im- 
 proving the Cedar Rapids of today; 
 but to look ahead and plan for the bet- 
 ter, the more beautiful, and stronger 
 Cedar Rapids of tomorrow. In so do- 
 ing I shall divide my discussion into 
 three parts, considering: A. Changes in 
 the street plan; B. Additional parks and 
 park connections; C. Local improve- 
 ments and corrections. As the divi- 
 sions ar3 arbitrary, there must natural- 
 ly be some overlapping of subjects. 
 
 i Q O O fl O 
 
A. — Changes in the Street Plan. 
 
 The appended print illustrates to 
 how remarkable a degree Cedar Rap- 
 ids is now a focus in its relation to the 
 country around it. Highways con- 
 verge to the city from all directions, 
 like the spokes to the hub of a wheel. 
 This is a desirable condition, which is 
 usuallj'- one of the first and most cost- 
 ly improvements that must be ar- 
 ranged for in the scientific replanning 
 of cities. But if Cedar Rapids is fortun- 
 ate in this respect, it is less fortunate 
 in the possession of belting highways 
 to connect these radials. While the 
 bulk of the travel must always be into 
 the center and out again, there should 
 be provision for convenient passage 
 from quadrant to quadrant. Further, 
 the radials tend to stop too soon in 
 their convergence. 
 
 To correct these shortcomings in 
 the street plan, with a view to future 
 as well as to present convenience, I 
 would urge — beginning with the north 
 — that a highway be platted from the 
 Kenwood Park region to the river, 
 reaching the latter at about the point 
 where McLeod's Run empties into the 
 Cedar, and then that a bridge be con- 
 structed over the river from this point 
 to North Seventh street west. The 
 platting of such a highway does not 
 necessarily mean its immediate con- 
 struction. But if it be laid down, and 
 entered on the official maps, there will 
 be assurance that when that section is 
 developed — and here and there devel- 
 opment is already taking place in it — 
 the city will obtain this exceedingly 
 important direct connection, which 
 otherwise it is not likely to have. For, 
 ob.serve, northwest of the Milwaukee 
 tracks, every street that is now itiid 
 out is on a north and south axis — to 
 which this would be diagonal. Even 
 now it would have great value. It 
 would pass, on its way from the Ken- 
 wood section, the Sacred Heart acad- 
 emy, the upper end of Daniels park, 
 and would cross two important radials. 
 Center Point road and North Twelfth 
 street; in its upper section it would tra- 
 verse a beautiful country with far views 
 and in its lower would follow a love- 
 ly stream. To a growing section on the 
 west side of the river, its crossing 
 would not only halve the distance to 
 an important residential section on the 
 east side, but would save the necessity 
 of going through the center of the city. 
 In fact, its function to the sections up 
 the riv3r would be similar to that of 
 the Sixteenth avenue bridge to those 
 down the river. It would be enough 
 perhaps, for the present, to construct 
 the highway only from Twenty-seventh 
 street, or from Twenty-ninth or Thirti- 
 eth, (according as the new bridge over 
 Indian creek is located on one or other 
 
 of the latter). Constructed only so far, 
 it would form the chord of the arc 
 made by the boulevard. Of its value for 
 pleasure driving I shall elsewhere 
 speak. 
 
 A north and south street — at least 
 one — from the north city line to about 
 the junction of Nineteenth street and 
 B or First or Third avenue, is a need 
 so obvious as probably to be met with- 
 out my suggestion. It would s,ubsti- 
 tute a short cut for the long curve now 
 made by First avenue and its paral- 
 lels. If carried through to Third ave- 
 nue, the north and south portion of 
 present Nineteenth street would con- 
 tinue it to Mt. Vernon road, so very 
 greatly increasing its value, and the 
 Third avenue and Thirtieth street in- 
 tersections would be so important as to 
 invite Rond Points. 
 
 The westward extension of one or 
 more of the important east and west 
 streets — as Grand avenue, Bever ave- 
 nue, or Mt. Vernon road — so that in- 
 stead of stopping at Third avenue the 
 first two should continue to First ave- 
 nue, and that Mt. Vernon road should 
 go clear through to Greene Square — 
 will probably not be thought of now, 
 owing to an expense that will seem 
 prohibitive. But there is much to be 
 said in favor of such action; and in 
 the case of the minor parallels, as — 
 for example — Fifth avenue, which 
 make the entrance to properties now 
 being expensively opened, an exten- 
 sion in a straight west line from Four- 
 teenth street, until they actually ap- 
 proach the business section, would 
 mean so much to those properties — 
 moving them in effect much closer to 
 town by shortening the distance thith- 
 er — that the change deserves serious 
 consideration. The owners of the out- 
 lying prc>perty that would be thus ben- 
 efited cculd afford, by assessment, or 
 voluntarily, to make substantial con- 
 tribution to the cost of the extension. 
 And in the cases of the other streets, 
 where the changes may now be out of 
 the question, it is well to have them in 
 mind, should fire ever clear the ground. 
 
 On the west side, the high ground 
 that forms a ridge paralleling the riv- 
 er at a varying distance, which never 
 exceeds about three-quarters of a mile 
 and which up stream is even less, ex- 
 cuses the lack of a diagonal to the 
 northwest. It is a pity that originally 
 a street was not platted to run direct- 
 ly south from Third avenue west at the 
 bridge — as it would have offered a 
 short-cut diagonal to a large section — ■ 
 but the need for it is not so great as to 
 justify the very large cost which its 
 construction through built up proper- 
 ty would now involve. But South 
 Ninth street west ought to be carried 
 through to First avenue west. This 
 distance is only two blocks and a half, 
 
including the two public alleys it 
 would cross, and the property is inex- 
 pensive. There is every reason to be- 
 lieve that with the growth of this sec- 
 tion of the city, this long eighty-foot 
 street would become, if carried to First, 
 a very important artery. At least one 
 north and south street below Fifth ave- 
 nue should carry through to the main 
 business street, and Ninth is the one to 
 which such extension can now be made 
 at least expense. 
 
 These are few changes, indeed, to 
 enhance the convenience of the street 
 plan of a growing city. They are so 
 few that there ought to be no hesita- 
 tion in carrying them out — in platting 
 the long street from Kenwood Park to 
 the river at McLeod's Run, in platting 
 the north and south thoroughfare from 
 the north city line to Third avenue at 
 Nineteenth street, in extending Fifth, 
 or some parallel avenue, in a straight 
 line westwardly from Fourteenth 
 street, and in carrying South Ninth 
 street west, or a street that is parallel 
 to it, north to First avenue west. Not 
 one of these changes but would confer 
 great local benefit, facilitating traffic 
 and adding to the convenience of the 
 whole community; all of them com- 
 bined would far better knit together 
 the street framework, or skeleton, of 
 Cedar Rapids, and give to it a struc- 
 ture very compact and interesting. Yet 
 few as the changes are, I shall urge no 
 others save some that are strictly 
 parkway propositions. That with such 
 slight amendments the city's street 
 plan can be considered scientifically 
 satisfactory, even when looking into 
 that future which we may confidently 
 predict for Cedar Rapids, is certainly 
 high praise for the city's present plan. 
 Befo-e leaving this suDject of the 
 street p'an, I must say a word about 
 the several residential additions that 
 are being platted at large cost and 
 with rare good taste. These, for the 
 most part lying east of Nineteenth 
 street, are, with winding roads or gen- 
 erous parkingreservations, securing the 
 maximum of artistic benefit from a 
 gently rolling and occasionally wooded 
 country. In so doing they are setting a 
 high standard for the development of 
 outlying residential areas, not in Ce- 
 dar Rapids alone, but in many cities. 
 They are destined, if meeting the suc- 
 cess anticipated, to make large con- 
 tribution to the justice of the claim 
 which Cedar Rapids ought soon to be 
 able to put forth, as "the home-city 
 beautiful" — one of the noblest descrip- 
 tions that could be given to a com- 
 munity. But there is this word of 
 caution to be uttered: The absurdity 
 of building a city a street at a time, 
 without comprehensive scheme, has 
 come to be recognized. The upbuilding 
 of a city tract by tract is very little 
 
 better. Unless there is given to the 
 subject of properly connecting these 
 tracts with the existing street system, 
 of tying them to one another and into 
 the present city plan, that same intelli- 
 gent and careful thought which is be- 
 ing put into the subject of their in- 
 terior development, they will be al- 
 ways isolated areas, lacking civic con- 
 sequence and shorn of much of their 
 possible usefulness. The street exten- 
 sions which I have proposed would do 
 much to give to these additions dignity, 
 inevitableness and municipal unity. 
 
 Changes in the development and 
 treatment of existing streets, I shall 
 discuss in section C. 
 
 B. — Additional Parks and Park Con- 
 nections. 
 
 I come now to a section of my re- 
 port which has particularly to do with 
 a city's claims to beauty. I will not 
 say that it is the most important sec- 
 tion, for I am unwilling to admit that 
 any part is less important than an- 
 otlier; but it is one of which the pur- 
 pose is so markedly aesthetic that, as 
 this phase of the city's development 
 particularly succeeds or fails, a city's 
 attractiveness of aspect and social ser- 
 vice are judged particularly to succeed 
 or fail. 
 
 The parks are now Cedar Rapids' 
 weakest point. Yet in the considerable 
 area possessed, in their excellent dis- 
 tribution, and in the natural topo- 
 graphical advantages of the city's site, 
 opportunities are offered for the cre- 
 ation, at amazingly low cost, of a park 
 system that would make the city fam- 
 ous and that — a matter of much more 
 importance — would add immensely to 
 the pleasure of the citizens who are 
 here today; and so by attractiveness 
 for residence draw many others to it. 
 
 Discussion of landscape effects and 
 park developing on the present tracts 
 I shall reserve for section C. Here 
 I have only to point out the complete 
 lack of anything like a park system, 
 and the need of rounding out and add- 
 ing slightly to the reservations now 
 possessed. For such large opportuni- 
 ties as those possessed by Cedar Rap- 
 ids involve large obligation; and as to 
 a park system, it is clear that isolated 
 tracts here and there, unrelated and 
 unconnected save as one journeys tor- 
 tuously through many miles of city 
 streets, do not constitute "a system." 
 
 Of the parks of Cedar Rapids, the 
 three largest — Bever, Ellis and Daniels 
 — are on the outer circumference of the 
 city. Their location is east, north and 
 northwest, while to the southwest is 
 Riverside park, and in the center are 
 Greene Square and Whittam park. All 
 of the parks are wholly, and com- 
 mendably, what are called people's 
 parks. "Thus, the several tracts are too 
 
small to offer invitation to driving, for 
 where there is room to drive at all, 
 nearly all the drive must be in getting 
 to the park and back, and, except 
 through a portion of Grand avenue, of 
 which the wild beauty will soon be lost 
 — this drive is not particularly attract- 
 ive. How to connect the parks, then, 
 with one another and with the city, and ' 
 to do this with parkways, that are real- 
 ly thin strips of park, may properly be ^ 
 1 first inouiry; and it should be pointed 
 out, with regard to this subject, that a 
 beautiful drive is not for the rich alone. 
 In these days everybody, except the 
 very poorest, have a chance to ride 
 once in a while; and even if the park- 
 ways could be used only by the well- 
 to-do, there may be reflection that they 
 too deserve to have a little done for 
 them, not only because they happen to 
 pay the bulk of the taxes, but because 
 thev are citizens. * 
 
 Starting, then, with Bever park, as 
 the mo.?t visited of all the parks, I rec- 
 ommend the use of its east drive, to 
 the northeast corner. Then the con- 
 struction of a new drive, leading out 
 of the park at this point and following 
 the course of a stream northeastward 
 a distance of possibly a thousand feet. 
 This is in a gully at practically level 
 grade. After two crossings of the 
 stream, the road should climb the hill 
 — a slignt natural defile making this no 
 very dirticult matter — and strike Twen- 
 ty-first street at a right angle. At this 
 summit point a marvelous view sud- 
 denly opens. The land drops away 
 precipitously all around. Below, at 
 one's feet are the Indian creek bottoms. 
 A part of the Country club golf course, 
 where was the old rifle range, is spread 
 out like a green carpet. Far away are 
 blue hills and purple hills. There is a 
 grandeur about the prospect and a 
 thrill about its suddenness that I found 
 nowhere else among all the charming 
 and lovely views with which Cedar 
 Rapids is surrounded. From the sum- 
 mit a road has been already crudely 
 graded down the hill, continuing in a 
 straight line the direction taken when 
 the stream had been crossed after 
 leaving the park. And this road brings 
 one to the corner of the Country club 
 grounds, whence there is a choice of 
 attractive routes to Twenty-seventh or 
 Twenty-fourth street, and, as I under- 
 stand, no difficulty about obtaining a 
 right-of-way. 
 
 We have at once a, summer even- 
 ing's drive in the short but very beau- 
 
 * Since Mr. Robinson's visit Fifth 
 avenue has been extended diagonally 
 from its former terminus in Vernon 
 Heights to Bever avenue, near the en- 
 trance to Bever park. Thus, to another 
 section of the city. Fifth avenue will 
 offer a convenient link in the loop. 
 
 tiful circuit that would thus be open- 
 ed — Grand avenue, for example, to Be- 
 ver park, through the park, through the 
 proposed new drive to the Country 
 club, and back by the boulevard. It 
 would mean the construction of only a 
 little strftch of road — of some conven- 
 ience and of great beauty. 
 
 Of the character of this road, a word 
 should be said. It may be criticised as 
 not the shortest distance between the 
 park and club and as having a, grade 
 which, as compared to streets, is 
 relatively heavy. But its pur- 
 pose is a pleasure drive. As 
 such a few moments' extra 
 tinrie is no objection, if it opens sur- 
 prising views and means more of love- 
 liness; and again, since it is not a 
 traffic road, the grades impose no hard- 
 ships. It will be well to secure for the 
 road as broad a right-of-way as pos- 
 sible — but the object of such breadth 
 should be only to preserve the beauty 
 at the sides, for the actual road itself 
 should certainly not be wider than 
 twenty feet. It should, however, for 
 that width, be very good. The useful- 
 ness of the road will be in the pleasure 
 that it gives, and it were poor econ- 
 omy if any uncertainty, danger or 
 roughness of the way marred the en- 
 joj^ment of the prospect. 
 
 If there be desired a longer circuit 
 and connection with the other parks, 
 there appears now the secondary but 
 very great value of that new highway 
 which I proposed should connect the 
 Kenwood Park section — or, for the 
 present, Twenty-seventh street — with 
 the west side by a bridge at about the 
 point where McLeod's Run now empties 
 into the river. For then, instead of 
 turning back to town by the boule- 
 vard. It would be possible to go direct, 
 by pleasant drive, to Daniels park, and 
 thence into town by Center Point road; 
 or, for longer turn, to North Twelfth 
 street, and so by pretty Cedar lake 
 back to the boulevard and to the heart 
 of town; or for a longer circuit yet, to 
 continue on across the river, and on 
 the west side turn to the left to town 
 or to the right to Ellis park. 
 
 In section A I advocated this new 
 thoroughtare as called for by various 
 prosaic considerations — as a short-cut, 
 as a connecting link between districts 
 widely separated, as opening new 
 tracts for settlement. But it is obvious 
 that it has also a very great value as a 
 park connection, and that it would 
 quickly take its place as an im- 
 portant link in a circling chain 
 of boulevard or parkway that 
 like a girdle might encompass 
 Cedar Rapids, giving to the city 
 that comprehensiveness of plan, that 
 connection which transforms scattered 
 parks into a system, and that ease of 
 access to the park system from any 
 
section of the town, which is now pos- 
 sessed by few but the larger communi- 
 ties. So great is the value of the new 
 thoroughfare in this respect that the 
 function is to be recognized in its de- 
 velopment. It should be given the 
 
 . width of a road that is to be used for 
 both traffic and pleasure driving; and 
 
 1 its connections with the city are to be 
 
 ! treated with thought of this new ser- 
 ^^ vice, for, though the proposed belt is 
 necessarily moderate in length, there 
 is no reason why it should not be just 
 as beautiful as that which binds to- 
 gether the parks of Kansas City, of 
 
 . Minneapolis, of Chicago, and of Bos- 
 ton. Of these connections. North 
 Twelfth street is, to my mind, of par- 
 ticularly interesting possibilities. 
 
 There are many cities that would 
 gladly expend great sums of money if 
 by so doing they could obtain such a 
 sheet of water as Cedar lake. To util- 
 ize it. Cedar Rapids has need to do 
 very little. On two sides there are 
 railroads, on a third side there is now 
 a public highway for nearly the whole 
 distance on the margin, and only the 
 north end is in private hands, and here 
 I have suggested putting the new road 
 that is to join the west side and the 
 Kenwoftd section. As to the railroads, 
 they occupy land that might have been 
 of good service for a drive, but if the 
 embankments be planted with a tan- 
 gle of willows, poplars, sumac, and 
 wild grape, the scenic detraction due to 
 the railroads will be negative rather 
 than positive — for the quick full growth 
 will screen them and will make a beau- 
 tiful frame of green across the placid 
 lily-studded waters. Then North 
 Twelfth street, frankly treated as a 
 parkway, will render the foreground 
 beautiful. And a parkway treatment 
 here, it may be well to remark, inci- 
 dentally urges the abolition of the two 
 grade crossings — happily, in one case 
 at least, no difficult matter. 
 
 It is apparent that while there is 
 need of doing very little, yet that the 
 little will serve a double purpose. For 
 it will add to the attractiveness of the 
 \oop driveway and it will transform 
 Cedar lake into a park. Such a sheet 
 of water needs only three things to 
 attain park usefulness: (1) A suffi- 
 cient purity, which, if not already as- 
 sured, can here be secured by turning 
 McLeod's Run back into the lake again 
 — a very simple operation; (2) the 
 beauty ot the shores, of which I have 
 already spoken; and (3) public access 
 to the water. This is provided by the 
 extensive public ownership of the 
 shore, on the Twelfth street side. So 
 by the concealment of the railroads by 
 heavy niarginal planting, and perhaps 
 the turning back of McLeod's Run, we 
 have a park ready made. And it is 
 such a good and serviceable sort of 
 
 park, with its boating facilities adja- 
 cent to a large residential section, and 
 is so distinct in character from any of 
 the other Cedar Rapids parks that it 
 is worth making the very best of. 
 
 To that purpose, I recommend that 
 two other things be done: (1) That at 
 the north end, where the land is pri- 
 vately owned, a drive swing off to the 
 left, curving around the upper end of 
 the slough on the natural embankment 
 or ridge that marks its upper limits, 
 so joining the proposed new road. It 
 would be a matter of only a few feet, 
 but it would further insure the shore 
 line from despoilment, and further safe- 
 guard the waters from defilement, 
 would increase the opportunity for pub- 
 lic access to the pond, and would open 
 new and interesting views of it; (2) I 
 recommend the acquirement of the lit- 
 tle triangle on the high ground, at the 
 southeast end of the lake, between it 
 and the hospital. This is a small tract, 
 but of great park value — a lovely spot 
 from which to watch the sunsets, and 
 quite the ideal of a small neighbor- 
 hood park — the sort of park in which 
 Cedar Rapids is deficient. It would 
 mean something indeed to the hospital 
 to have this little dividing strip pre- 
 served and beautified, but it would 
 mean much more to the city. The 
 charm of the park is its view — as sweet 
 and tranquil a picture as one could ask. 
 And therein appears — quite apart from 
 its social service — the civic economy of 
 reserving and parking the tract. You 
 have the picture and this would give 
 you the position from which to view it. 
 It is nowhere so beautiful as from that 
 spot, and for Cedar Rapids to fail to 
 reserve this little vantage point would 
 be as if a man had been given an ex- 
 quisite painting, had taken the trouble 
 worthily to frame it, and then neglect- 
 ed to provide any space in the room 
 from which he could enjoy a good view 
 of it. * 
 
 There will be nothing expensive 
 about the development of the plat — to 
 keep the grass cut, keep the weeds out, 
 and provide some benches, is very 
 nearly all that will be required. For 
 the great feature is the view and any 
 elaborate floral treatment which would 
 tend to distract attention from that 
 would be only in poor taste. 
 
 And now let us see what this little 
 park is leading us to, in the suggested 
 inner loop. It requires no vigor of im- 
 agination to foresee a probability that, 
 unless shackled by the terms of some 
 gift, the trustees of Coe college will 
 ultimately sell the present campus site 
 
 * The city has now under way pro- 
 ceedings looking to the purchase of 
 "Sunset Park" for park purposes as 
 outlined in this report. 
 
— necessarily restricted as it is, and be- 
 coming immensely valuable — and will 
 move further out of town, where, for 
 the same money and with no real sacri- 
 fice of accessibility, there can be ob- 
 tained greater quiet, freedom of the 
 students from a city's tempting dis- 
 tractions, and a much ampler ground 
 space, with the larger opportunities 
 that gives for development. When that 
 change takes place, the platting of the 
 present college grounds should provide 
 a diagonal driveway from the triangle 
 park to First avenue and Thirteenth 
 street — if, indeed, the authorities are 
 not ready even now to permit a circling 
 drive to pass from one of these corners 
 to the other, through the grounds. Then 
 the extension of Grand avenue the 
 short distance to First would complete 
 a remarkably interesting and delightful 
 park loop on the east side. Indeed, if 
 Grand avenue be not extended, it will 
 still be very good, for of the street sys- 
 tem we should have to use only Third 
 avenue from Grand to Fourteenth 
 street — where nearly all of one side is 
 now bordered by Redmond and Huston 
 parks, and which, a hundred feet wide, 
 is free from car tracks in this portion 
 — a couple of blocks of Fourteenth — a 
 broad and pleasant residential street — 
 and one block of the boulevard. 
 
 Think for a moment of the varied 
 scenery; ravine and viewpoint, lake 
 and forest, in the circuit from starting 
 point to starting point; and ask your- 
 selves T^ hat other city of the middle 
 West, though it have many times the 
 population and financial resources of 
 Cedar Rapids, can offer, all within its 
 borders, such a circular park-drive as 
 that. And how easy it is to acquire — 
 just a link here, a road there, an op- 
 portunity turned to advantage! I do 
 not anticipate that a single inch of 
 ground would have to be bought, ex- 
 cept perhaps the triangle between the 
 hospital and the lake. But that would 
 be purchased not for the drive, which 
 is quite independent of it, but for a 
 park. 
 
 If one did not return to the city by 
 North Twelfth street, but elected to 
 continue across the river, the choice 
 would mean no surrender of interest 
 and attractiveness. As far as the river 
 there would be the creek on one side 
 and the lake on the other. Then would 
 come the bridge, passing over the rail- 
 road without need of grade crossing, 
 and spanning the river where it is 
 much broken with islands and rendered 
 very picturesque. On the west shore, 
 a turn to the right would take one up 
 North Seventh street — here become a 
 riverside drive — to Ellis park. For a 
 short distance, in shallow lots, stand 
 perhaps a half dozen houses between 
 the road and the river. Some day, when 
 Cedar Rapids is larger and richer, it 
 
 will acquire these. Meanwhile, it 
 should obtain by the co-operation of 
 the Ri\fer Front Improvement commis- 
 sion whatever land above them is still 
 privately owned, between road and 
 river, to Ellis park. 
 
 In that future day — still too remote 
 to justify recommendations for imme- 
 diate expenditure — there will be an- 
 other crossing, yet further up. For 
 North Twelfth street will be carried far 
 up the river, climbing the bluffs and 
 skirting their edge for long views that 
 vary in loveliness with every changing 
 angle. And somewhere near the pres- 
 ent city line, one can fancy, there will 
 be a liver crossing to return to Ellis 
 park. There is no way of getting 
 along the up-river bluffs now except 
 by tramping, and probably not one res- 
 ident in several thousand in Cedar 
 Rapids knows how noble a drive waits, 
 within the present city limits on the 
 east side, for its costly developinent 
 until a much larger population — or a 
 real estate speculation — furnishes the 
 means. 
 
 But returning to the problems of to- 
 day, we may go back to the west end 
 of the new bridge that is to cross the 
 river at McLeod's Run. Suppose that 
 instead of electing to go to the right, 
 to Ellis park, the choice had been to 
 the left — toward town. North First 
 street west affords now a fine riverside 
 drive, until the icehouse is reached just 
 above the Northwestern railroad bridge. 
 It would be no difficult matter to car- 
 ry the road under the tracks, but at 
 once one loses the river and gets into 
 an industrial section that is destructive 
 to any effects suggestive of a park ap- 
 proach. The only thing to do after 
 crossing here would be to go by the 
 shortest route possible to Third street, 
 which, happily, would be a distance of 
 only a block or so. But as an alterna- 
 tive I suggest, in order to maintain 
 more unbrokenly the character of a 
 park approach, that the drive swing 
 around the icehouse, going beneath the 
 Northwestern tracks at a point oppo- 
 site North Third street west, and then 
 to that thoroughfare. The latter can 
 be easily widened the three and a half 
 blocks to E avenue, whence it leads, a 
 broad, pleasant street, to First, Second 
 and Third avenues, with their river 
 bridges connecting with the east side, 
 or as far south as one wishes to go. 
 
 The little change will make a very 
 stunning approach to Ellis park all the 
 way from the heart of the city — 
 whether east side or west. And it is 
 surprising how favorable the condi- 
 tions are, as yet, for obtaining it. From 
 the point where the road would swing 
 away from the river, to go around 
 the ice house to the railroad, the land 
 is still unbuilt upon — actually waiting 
 for such development! Reaching the 
 
LOOKING NORTH FROM THE NORTHWESTERN TRACKS, AT A POINT 
 OPPOSITE THIRD STREET WEST, SHOWING THE 
 OPEN LAND AVAILABLE FOR A STREET. 
 
THE SHORE DIRECTLY OPPOSITE RIVERSIDE PARK IS VERY BEAU- 
 TIFUL. 
 
 AN OUTGROWN METHOD OF TREATING STREET CORNERS THAT IS 
 UGLY AND DANGEROUS— NOTE HOW CLOSE TO THE 
 CURB THE STREET CAR TRACK COMES AT THE CORNER. 
 
A Bit ot Vacant Property at the Intersection of Three Streets on the West 
 Side That Would Make an Admirable Playground Site — A 
 Cow and a Billboard Nov/ Share It. 
 
 'Please, Sir, Are We Not More Important Than the Cow and the Billboard?' 
 A Few of the Children Who Live Around the Plat. 
 
^ OF THe ^ 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF 
 
THE NEAT WALKS AND LAWNS OF THE POLK SCHOOL AND THE 
 BARBARISM OF THE NAME ON THE TERRACE. 
 
 IT IS IMPORTANT THAT A BUILDING LINE BE ESTABLISHED— THIS 
 ST^IEET ILLUSTRATES THE TENDENCY WHEN THERE IS NOT 
 AN ORDINANCE, TO THRUST EACH HOUSE OUT A LIT- 
 TLE FURTHER THAN ITS NEIGHBOR. 
 
OF THE "* 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF 
 
j tX7dN<3ION6 I 
 
 FffOPjbSEP FOR CEIfAR HRFtU3,IR 
 
 I Br 
 
 CH^KLE5 MULF0fri7 HOBIN^ON 
 
 JULY 1908 
 
 ^(Tty /^/'A- ;?^rrs 
 
OF THE ■* 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF 
 
► 
 
C : '^'^ 
 
 :*0/7y j; 
 
SECOND AVENUE BRIDGE AND THE UPPER END OF THE ISLAND. 
 
 THE ISLAND'S LOWErt END. 
 
>^ OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF 
 
UNI 
 
 th. 
 
 ^ERS 
 
 OF I 
 
 ITV 
 
 4LL^PRN\^, 
 
 GREENE SQUARE. 
 The shrubs that are planted scatteringly should be massed in groups, and 
 there should be obtained an open lawn effect. 
 
 ...-;■:-:: ^-ii 
 
 i 
 
 K' . 
 
 ^^nHAH 
 
 J^^^^Mp^. :!'■■■: 
 
 
 ft 
 
 
 THE STONE TOOL HOUSE IN GREENE SQUARE. 
 
GREENE SQUARE, LOOKING TOWARD THIRD AVENUE ON THE RAIL- 
 ROAD SIDE. 
 Note the lack of adequate boundary between the tracks and the park, and 
 the need of better defining the entrance. 
 
V 
 
tracks, tliej'' are found already elevated, 
 on an embankment so high that a grade 
 crossing would be as discouragingly 
 difficult and costly as it would be un- 
 desirable. Then there is only the depth 
 of one lot, with an inexpensive frame 
 house upon it, between this point and 
 Third street. An important result of 
 the changes would be that Ellis park 
 would no longer be isolated. It would 
 be tied into the street system of the 
 city, and would be brought attractively 
 close to all parts of the west side and 
 east. 
 
 Riverside park, while necessarily a 
 neighborhood park in its limited area, 
 in its service, and in the apartness of 
 its location, comes so close to South 
 Third street west that it would be 
 practically another of the jewels on this 
 chain. The road which now leads into 
 it from Sixteenth avenue at the bridge 
 ought to be beautified and emphasized 
 as a park approach. The railroad sid- 
 ing is of course unfortunate; but, as- 
 suming that it must remain, there 
 should be no difficulty about "planting 
 It out" by putting a screen of shrubs 
 between it and the road. 
 
 With two more suggestions, I shall 
 have done with an advocacy of new 
 parks and parkways, for I reserve dis- 
 cussion of the island for another place, 
 and denj' myself — as looking into too 
 long a future— mention of the drive 
 that some time will be made from north 
 to south on the ridge that bounds the 
 city to the west; or mention of the pos- 
 sibilities of the hill at the turn of the 
 river south of Riverside park, or of 
 the utilization of Indian creek for park 
 purposes. These would constitute rec- 
 ommendations that must await a much 
 larger city and that need not today 
 have serious thought. 
 
 On the east side of the river, between 
 the Sixteenth avenue bridge and Tenth 
 avenue, there is a short stretch of riv- 
 er bank which the railroads have not 
 invaded. The shore is very beautiful, 
 and lying directly across from River- 
 side park the preservation of its beauty 
 is a matter of special concern. An al- 
 ley parallels the river for this distance, 
 and a number of small houses have 
 been erected, backing on the river and 
 fronting on the alley. Twelfth street, 
 however, is carried through to the 
 brink, giving to the city the width of 
 at least one lot on the bank. Now, I 
 could wish that the River Front Im- 
 provement commission, under the pow- 
 ers so wisely given to it, would under- 
 take to preserve the beauty and in- 
 crease the public availability of this 
 four-block stretch of river bank. This 
 is now as completely closed to public 
 enjoyment as if it also had been given 
 over to the railroads; and yet there is 
 gathered close about it a large popula- 
 tion, to which a park reservation along 
 
 the river, where one might sit on a 
 summer evening, would be peculiarly 
 acceptable. 
 
 My plan would be for the commission 
 to acquire title to the lands between 
 the alley and the river bank, for the 
 municipality to vacate the alley and 
 deed that also to the commission on 
 agreement that a new park-like road 
 should be built closer to the shore. By 
 selling off the lots fronting on this 
 drive — they ought to bring good prices 
 with such an outlook — monev enough 
 should h^t secured not onlv to pay for 
 the land which the commission must 
 acquire, but to build the new road, 
 and park the banks. A twenty foot 
 macadam road, a strip of parking, and 
 a walk along the brink, with many 
 seats facing toward the river, and the 
 shores put in proper condition and their 
 growth so thinned as to open views, 
 would make this a very serviceable bit 
 of river bank improvement, which, ap- 
 parently, can be secured at slight or no 
 cost to the community. The river is 
 swift and attractive here; on the hot- 
 test evenings there would never fail to 
 be a good current of air; and just as 
 this park would preserve the beauty 
 of the opposite shore for Riverside park, 
 so Riverside would perform a like ser- 
 vice for much of this. There would 
 thus De double economy in utilizing 
 this well-placed strip, that so happily 
 remains available. Incidentally it 
 would carry the circuit of park drive 
 back into the heart of town. 
 
 Further up stream, where railroads 
 and business crowd the shores, there 
 would Stem to be little more to hope for 
 than the neatness, orderliness and ap- 
 propriateness of a substantial seawall. 
 Yet on the west bank, from the B ave- 
 nue bridge to the First avenue or even 
 to the Second, there seems to be a good 
 chance for a riverside park that wotild 
 not only preserve in the very center 
 of the city some of the natural loveli- 
 ness of the stream bank, but, in such 
 location, would perforin large social 
 service. A portion, indeed, of this 
 tract would be a valuable location for 
 a playground. 
 
 The children's playground movement 
 is spreading rapidly over the United 
 States, as by merit it deserves to do. 
 Cedar Rtipids is too progressive a city 
 not shortly to join in it. There has 
 seemed to be no need to make here a 
 study of available sites, for play- 
 grounds are easily located, even a va- 
 cant lot, when properly equipped and 
 supervised, serving admirably. 
 
 If I have pictured an elaborate park 
 system, it must be remembered that my 
 duty is to sketch Cedar Rapids as it 
 ought to be — with the opportunities 
 that lie before it; and, as I believe, un- 
 der the guidance of wise officials, it 
 will be. For it is not proposed that 
 
all these things be done at once. The 
 plan is an ideal, which the city is to 
 develop toward, going step by step as 
 it is able, year by year. Tet consid- 
 eration should be given to the danger 
 and growing cost consequent upon de- 
 lay. I suppose that no one who be- 
 lieves in Cedar Rapids thinks that it 
 will be cheaper to do these things in the 
 future than it is today. And in the ag- 
 gregate, the undertakings that are to 
 give to Cedar Rapids such a system of 
 parks and parkways — unusually com- 
 plete and democratically serviceable 
 though it will be — appear far more 
 formidable than when taken one by 
 one. For by utilizing existing streets 
 and parks, and obtaining rights-of-way 
 through property which has not yet 
 been opened — always an easy acquire- 
 ment for a parkway, so greatly is the 
 abutting? property benefited — there is 
 need of buying practically nothing. 
 Perhaps the only purchases will be the 
 little strip at the head of Cedar lake, 
 which w ill be for park pui'poses as well 
 as drive; the triangle on the bluff at 
 its foot, for a neighborhood park; the 
 few feet that will connect North Third 
 street west with the riverside drive, in 
 detour around the icehouse, if that be 
 decided upon; the strip for an east side 
 riverbank park, which the re-sale of 
 abutting lots should not only pay for 
 but develop; and perhaps a little of the 
 west river bank below B avenue. 
 
 After all, so far as we have gone as 
 yet, there is needed rather the ability 
 to plan and the courage to execute 
 than any considerable expenditure. 
 And when there is reflection on the 
 great advantage to the city of the 
 changes which have been proposed, no 
 particular courage is needed. In mu- 
 nicipal development, financial reward 
 comes with service to the community. 
 That which increases the beauty of a 
 city and its attractiveness for resi- 
 dence, draws a very desirable sort of 
 people to it, increasing its business, 
 settling unoccupied lands, and much 
 increasing assessable values. Wher- 
 ever a study has been made of the sub- 
 ject, it is the unvarying testimony that 
 well-planned parks and parkways do 
 more than pay for themselves. They 
 do that many times over. They be- 
 come, indeed, extremely profitable in- 
 vestments to the community. 
 
 C. — Local Improvements and Correc- 
 tions. 
 
 It should be clear from the words 
 used In introducing this report, that 
 Cedar Rapids gives a very delightful 
 impression and that the shortcomings 
 which need correction are nothing like 
 as great as in many communities of the 
 same size. I speak of this because, 
 
 while serving you only wrhen recom- 
 mending improvements, it seems un- 
 gracious in so attractive a city simply 
 to pick flaws. Yet, the very fact that 
 Cedar Rspids has developed so well in 
 most respects, makes its faults the 
 more glaring, and the better worth cor- 
 recting, that the product may be of the 
 best. I shall discuss improvements in 
 public pioperty under three heads: The 
 streets, the schools and the parks. Then 
 I shall speak of the two great scars 
 upon the city, and their possible ameli- 
 oration. 
 
 1. The Streets — One is at once im- 
 pressed by the absence of name signs. 
 This is not exactly a matter that has 
 to do with the physical improvement of 
 the city; but it is a fault so impossible 
 to overlook, so constantly thrusting it- 
 self upon the attention of any stranger 
 who is trying to get about and form an 
 intelligent opinion of Cedar Rapids, 
 that it requires to be mentioned. You 
 have adopted a system of nomencla- 
 ture designed to be simple, sacrificing 
 for that end all the historical interest, 
 picturesqueness and pleasantness of de- 
 scription that should be in the names 
 of a city's streets. But owing to the 
 irregularity of the city's plan, the re- 
 sult remains extraordinarily complex 
 and confusing. There is not only the 
 repetition of names on the two sides of 
 the river, so that a point of the com- 
 pass must be cumberously designated 
 at both ends of many of the names; 
 hut there is no uniformity between 
 continuance of street and continuance 
 of name. For example, take Ninth 
 avenue. At its beginning, on the west 
 side, it runs directly east. Just before 
 reaching L street west it swerves to 
 the northeast, but continues as Ninth 
 avenue. Incidentally, this part of it is 
 given up to the railroad, so that in the 
 ordinary sense, or anything except in 
 name, it ceases to be a street. Across 
 the river — bridged only by a railroad 
 structure — it continues as Ninth ave- 
 nue, and becomes a thoroughfare again 
 when the railroad gets through with it, 
 at so-called Fourth street. Now a fine, 
 broad, straight avenue, it extends to 
 Mt. Vernon road where another angle 
 swerves it, so that it begins to run di- 
 rectly at right angles with its begin- 
 ning. The name, which has withstood 
 so many vicissitudes, fails, however, to 
 get around this angle and you find 
 yourself on — you know not by what 
 mathematical process — Fourteenth 
 street. Or, take Twentieth avenue, 
 which, if carried in a straight line 
 through Oak Hill cemetery, rises on 
 the other side of the graves as Sev- 
 enteenth. Clearly, intuition and sys- 
 tem cannot be trusted, and there is 
 
need that the streets be labeled with 
 their names. * 
 
 The waste cans in the business sec- 
 tion are very bad — utterly unworthy of 
 Cedar Rapids. To my mind it is un- 
 pardonable for a city of the pretensions 
 and resources of Cedar Rapids so con- 
 spicuously to profess such abject pov- 
 erty that it cannot afford to buy its 
 own few waste cans, but must get a 
 theater to furnish them to it, in return 
 for the advertising privilege. I do not 
 think that is "good business." But if 
 we assume that Cedar Rapids is just 
 as poor as it thus tries to make every 
 business man who visits it believe, it 
 ought for the advertising privilege to 
 get cans that are well built, neatly 
 painted and properly maintained. The 
 privilege of advertising on them is eas- 
 ily worth not only an initial outlay but 
 such annual payment as will keep the 
 cans in the best of condition. But it 
 would tie my advice to the city to buy 
 its own cans, and not allow any posters 
 on them, before it thinks of more 
 parks. * 
 
 The old method, now, I understand, 
 abandoned, of joining intercepting 
 curbs at street intersections, puts a 
 conspicuous blemish on the city. Ev- 
 ery modern municipality requires that 
 the curbs be rounded at the corners, 
 with a radius of not less than nine feet 
 and of more when opportunity offers. 
 This Is required not only for looks, 
 but for the convenience and safety of 
 traffic, and the correction should be 
 made here as rapidly as possible. 
 
 Owing to the breadth of Cedar Rap- 
 ids streets, many of them, both in and 
 out of the residential districts, present 
 too great a width of pavement. In the 
 business section, their condition can be 
 remedied to the eye, and the streets 
 given a new dignity and a more im- 
 posing character by the simple device 
 of placing well designed electric light 
 masts down the center. Some notion 
 of the improved effect can be secured 
 by observing those streets that have 
 the center trolley poles; but the effect 
 would be better than that, for a digni- 
 fied arrangement would be substituted 
 for the present flimsy looking method 
 
 * Eight years ago street signs were 
 painted, but for some reason were not 
 put in place. Since Mr. Robinson's 
 visit to Cedar Rapids these signs have 
 been resurrected and placed in position 
 on the streets. 
 
 * The city of Cedar Rapids has since 
 purchased a supply of the most ap- 
 proved waste cans — of a style recom- 
 mended by Mr. Robinson. They will 
 be neatly painted and carry no adver- 
 tisements. 
 
 of suspending the light globes; and the 
 trolley v/ires and tracks would not 
 draw horizontal lines to detract, as 
 they unconsciously do, from the per- 
 pendicular effect of the poles. 
 
 First avenue, for its whole length, 
 should have — as the middle street, the 
 widest street, the vertebral column in 
 the structure of the city — a special 
 treatment. It is an exceedingly hand- 
 some thoroughfare now, with its 120 
 feet from lot line to lot line, its wide 
 side-parking in the residential section, 
 its center trolley poles and its long 
 perspectives. But it might well have 
 a particular distinction. To this end 
 I would urge that in the residential 
 section the pavement in the car tracks 
 be taken up and greensward substi- 
 tuted for it. The only way in which 
 paving there affects the public is to 
 add to the noise of the street and its 
 dust. The greensward — and it is sig- 
 nificant of the pavement's little need 
 that at the time of my visit grass was 
 growing thickly in the center between 
 the bricks — would not only decrease 
 noise and dust, and look cooler and 
 pleasanter; but with its long, well- 
 defined line would add much to the 
 beauty of the street. There are few 
 strictly urban effects more satisfactory 
 than that offered by rails gleaming 
 in lines of silver through the grass. 
 And it is not village-like. Nearly all 
 the large cities give examples of it — 
 Boston \ery notably. On the west side, 
 beyond Tenth street, where the cars 
 turn off, the street rises over the hill. 
 Here the greensward should be con- 
 tinued, as center parking; and for its 
 conspicuousness — as a tapis vert roll- 
 ed down before the eye, and visible for 
 a long distance — it should be further 
 adorned with low flowering shrubs, 
 these taking the place of the decora- 
 tion offered below by rails and poles. 
 
 As the bricks that would be removed 
 are in good condition and for the most 
 part available for use again, it is prob- 
 able that their value is equivalent to 
 the cost of their removal, the substitu- 
 tion of the grass, and the latter's 
 adornment on the slope with plants. So 
 there would be obtained, at little or 
 possibly no expense, a very flne effect — 
 of which Iowa City conveniently offers 
 a good example to those who doubt. It 
 may be well to say, in this connection, 
 that division of the street, either by 
 poles tir parking, so accelerates and 
 conveniences the traffic, by dividing it 
 into distinct streams of opposite direc- 
 tion, that the street loses none of its 
 traffic efficiency by the change; while 
 crossovers at the intersecting streets, 
 and between blocks where the blocks 
 are long, give to transverse vehicle 
 travel all the opportunity necessary. 
 For pedestrians crossing the wide 
 
street, the center parking offers a wel- 
 come isle of safety. * 
 
 Third avenue, on the east side, also 
 presents some very interesting- possi- 
 bilities from Bever avenue out. This 
 is because — a broad, arterial street — 
 it forms the ridge, or crest, which binds 
 together two distinct street systems, 
 so that the intersections are at inter- 
 esting angles and frequently — as at 
 Sixteenth, Seventeenth and Eighteenth 
 streets — there are five corners instead 
 of four. Huston and Redmond park.s 
 have been created in recognition of the 
 situation, but triangle parks all tlie 
 way out would be a costly and for vari- 
 ous reasons unwise arrangement. There 
 can be planned, however, a concave 
 rounding of corners where the five 
 streets come in, so as to form such 
 circles as the English call "circuses." 
 These would leave the property avail- 
 able, and even of great value, for build- 
 ing, and would make of the avenue a 
 very attractively interesting street. I 
 advise that this be done. 
 
 At the Grand avenue intersection, 
 considering the use to which I propose 
 to put this part of Third avenue as a 
 link in the boulevard circuit, the ef- 
 fect would be bettered by rounding off 
 a corner of Redmond park so as to 
 swing Grand avenue into Third by a 
 curve. It would make the drive inore 
 obvious and would improve the looks 
 of the park. 
 
 There are also various points, where 
 — when the streets are improved — a 
 little care in the rounding of corners 
 will ovei come in effect the present bad 
 jogs. An example is offered — to go to 
 the west side — by North Fourth street's 
 crossing of E avenue. This street, by 
 the way, ought to be carried through 
 to Fir-;t avenue. It now ends in an al- 
 ley wnich, making the one-block con- 
 nection, could be easily widened. 
 
 Finally, it is most important that a 
 building line be established by ordi- 
 nance. This will not be the same on 
 every street, its distance from the walk 
 depending on the character of the 
 neighborhood, the depth of the lots, 
 and the style of building. But the es- 
 tablishment for every street, or unit 
 of street, of a definite building line 
 somewhere is a protective measure of 
 utmost concern to every house owner 
 and house renter, while incidentally it 
 will do much for the beauty of the 
 streets. 
 
 2. The Schools — The public school 
 property, in its aggregate value, in its 
 wide distribution, in its local conspic- 
 
 * Since the writing of this report a 
 parkway twenty feet in width has been 
 established in the center of First ave- 
 nue west extending a distance of three 
 blocks west from Tenth street, as sug- 
 gested by Mr. Robinson. 
 
 uousness, has a much greater potential 
 value in improving the aspect of cities 
 than is commonly realized. And to the 
 direct physical contribution which its 
 proper improvement can make to mu- 
 nicipal attractiveness and beauty, there 
 is to ,.'e added, as of yet greater sig- 
 nificance, the influence of its example. 
 This is both upon the children, who 
 spend on school property a good part 
 of the most impressionable years of 
 their lives, and upon the neighborhood. 
 To better the appearance of the school 
 buildings and the school grounds 
 should therefore be considered on& of 
 the first duties of a progressive city. 
 
 In the case of Cedar Rapids, it is lit- 
 tle use to discuss the buildings that 
 have been already constructed; but the 
 improvement of the grounds is a goal 
 still easily within reach. I think I vis- 
 ited almost every school yard in the 
 city. There is, however, such resem- 
 blance in their development that it is 
 possible to discuss them in general 
 terms. For the most part the grounds 
 are of unusually good size. There are 
 frequently some good trees on them. 
 In addition to the play space, there are 
 well kept turf and walks; and on the 
 lawn, as the one decoration of the 
 schoolyard, there is a round bed of 
 geraniums. In a few cases, as at Mon- 
 roe school, this is protected by chicken 
 wire; but as a rule no protection is 
 necessary. At the Jefferson school the 
 lawn A'as not as well kept as at most 
 of the others, but the group of oaks in 
 the corner is exceptionally satisfactory. 
 At Tyler school, terrace and retaining 
 wall are so high that the grounds do 
 not show from the street, but we have 
 seen that the influence of the grounds' 
 condition on the children is one of the 
 most important desiderata in their im- 
 provement. At the Polk school, canna 
 are substituted for the geraniums in 
 the two round beds, the tei'race is es- 
 pecially well kept and the name of the 
 school is printed on it in huge concrete 
 letters. 
 
 Now I think most intelligent citizens 
 of Cedar Rapids will see, even in this 
 brief summary, chat conditions are not 
 what they ouf ht to be, nor worthy of 
 the eddcationhl agencies of the city — 
 whose duty it is to lead, not to follow, 
 in matters ol taste. The little round 
 flower bed in the middle of a close 
 clipped lawn is a very foolish and child- 
 ish method of adornment. And if 
 tliere were to be a flower bed, why fill 
 it with geraniums or canna, whose 
 llowermg period is after school has 
 closed ? But a great deal better effect, 
 and at less annual cost, can be secured, 
 since the yards have separate play- 
 grounds, by taking out the bed alto- 
 gether, securing a stretch of lawn 
 where the waving branches of the trees 
 cast flickering shadows unbroken by 
 
any incongruous splash. And then, for 
 a more positive adornment, put shrubs 
 close around the building, wedding wall 
 to ground and breaking the hard, sharp 
 angle that they form. And fill in the 
 shrubs in masses, at corners and an- 
 gles — the barberry, whose bright ber- 
 ries will cling all winter and leaves 
 turn brilliant in the fall; the bridal 
 wreath, that will be gay in spring; the 
 lilac, that will scent the air with 
 springtime fragrance; the sumac, that 
 will be gorgeous background in the 
 autumn, and the wild rose which with 
 delicate bloom will usher in commence- 
 ment days. And these are only a be- 
 ginnin;?, for there are many perennials 
 to choose from. The sumac and the 
 roses the children can get themselves 
 in the country, and doing their own 
 planting (under direction) they will 
 feel thereafter special interest in the 
 grounds and incidentally learn many a 
 useful lesson. Against the bare brick 
 school walls plant vines. Let there be 
 no gas pipe railings, as at the Jack- 
 son school, for shrubs strategically 
 placed will attain the same result at 
 less cost and with far greater comeli- 
 ness. As for the concrete name on the 
 terrace at the Polk school, that is an 
 unspeakable barbarism, unworthy of 
 such a school. 
 
 3. The Park.s — With respect to these 
 there is so much to be said that no 
 other advice can be of such value as 
 the urgent appeal that before any fur- 
 ther constructive work goes forward in 
 them, a definite landscape plan be ob- 
 tained for every one, however small. I 
 shall make only a few of the more ob- 
 vious suggestions — as to things that 
 can be done now and done easily and 
 that w'll be effective. These and many 
 other points would be covered in the 
 plans of the professional landscape de- 
 signer who, as a measure of actual 
 economy, should be employed. The 
 parks are of such importance and ex- 
 tent that they are deserving of good 
 development. A comparatively low an- 
 nual salary would put at your service 
 — for consultation at any time on any 
 point, the experience, taste and knowl- 
 edge of a man who has made park de- 
 velopment his life study. 
 
 Referring to my notes, I find that 
 Greene Square receives a large share 
 of attention. This is as it should be, 
 for its central location, its intensive 
 use, its conspicuousness to the travel- 
 ers who pass through Cedar Rapids, re- 
 quire that it be particularly well de- 
 veloped. I suggest for its further im- 
 provement that a hedge be planted on 
 the railroad side. This will not only 
 promote safety, but will be a distinct 
 aesthetic addition. We shall then have 
 a park and a railroad, not a park spoil- 
 ed by a railroad running through it. 
 The Square will be clearly defined, and 
 
 looking west in it the eye will rest on 
 the grateful green of the framing hedge 
 rather than on dreary, hot and cindered 
 tracks. The entrances— I illustrate 
 one of those from Third avenue — need 
 to be defined. A group of low shrubs 
 on either side of the path would do 
 this well, and would shut out of the 
 park-picture the dusty street. The 
 grave-like mound, which here bears the 
 city's name as in other parks it bears 
 the park's name, ought to be taken out 
 of every park. It is thoroughly bad; 
 and in this particular case I cannot 
 conceive why there should be a wish to 
 have opposite the station a big grave 
 with the words "Cedar Rapids" on it, as 
 if the town were dead. I think the city 
 very much alive, and the grave slan- 
 ders it to every traveler. Of the stone 
 house, to be vine covered, I shall ven- 
 ture to say little. In Europe, Asia and 
 America, I never have seen its like 
 before. But surely it violates all the 
 principles of art, for it is not sincere — 
 since the design is that it shall appear 
 what it is not; it is not appropriate, 
 and it is not in harmony with its sur- 
 roundings. The shrubs that are plant- 
 ed scatteringly should be massed in 
 groups, so obtaining an effect of open 
 lawn that, without sacrifice of color, 
 will nave more of restfulness. The 
 fact that diagonal paths do not cut the 
 park in quarters makes this effect the 
 more easily obtainable and satisfac- 
 tory. With these small changes, 
 Greene Squ9,re would do credit to the 
 city. 
 
 In Bever park there is too much 
 shade. There is such sameness in the 
 thinned woods effect that the contrast 
 of a sunny hillside, meadow, or other 
 bi'oad open space, would be welcome. 
 The large natural enclosures that con- 
 tain some of the animals are good, but 
 the animal house is a hideous old barn 
 that, like a temporary looking drinking 
 trough on one of the drives, ought not 
 to remain there for a day. The fact is, 
 there is need of spending a good deal 
 of money in Bever and the other parks. 
 It would be worth while for the com- 
 munity to be really generous for two 
 or three years, until the parks have 
 been more adequately developed. * 
 
 With respect to the curbs on the 
 park driveways, there are occasions 
 where a curb is really necessary. On 
 roads, in natural parks, when it can 
 be omitted I would much rather have 
 it omitted. But if it is used, it should 
 be used consistently — that is, it stands 
 for formalism, elaborateness and ex- 
 pensiveness of development. It should 
 separate perfect roads from shaven 
 
 * The old frame animal house re- 
 ferred to has since been replaced by 
 neat and permanent stone, concrete 
 and steel animal dens. 
 
lawns; ii should never go a little way 
 as in Bever park, and then arbitrarily 
 stop, the drive becoming a simple dirt 
 road in the woods. The cement curb 
 is, in short, an intrusion in a natural 
 park — where the whole desire is to get 
 away from city effects. When it is used 
 for onlv a few hundred feet at the en- 
 trance, it is also a little hypocritical. 
 
 The Liever avenue entrance to the 
 park, as that used by street car patrons, 
 is of much more importance than is 
 suggested by its present development. 
 The wire fence should come down here, 
 and th-3 boundary be made by a close 
 growth of shrubberj'. The entrance, 
 too, should be defined by planting. The 
 conditions at the Grand avenue entrance 
 are not quite as bad, but the posts 
 should come out. The same criticisms 
 apply in a general way at Ellis park, 
 where height is particularly needed at 
 the entrance; and of both these parks 
 and of Oireene Square I may say — with 
 respect to the spider-legged stone shel- 
 ters — that the debate which seems to 
 be publicly going on, regarding the use 
 of stone in this way, misses the point 
 that is really at issue. The trouble is 
 with the design, not with the material. 
 For Riverside park I approve and urge 
 the carrying out of the wise plans made 
 by a previous park commission, to in- 
 stall bathing opportunities and to de- 
 velop athletic features in a portion of 
 the tract. 
 
 With regard to the many small parks, 
 I must speak in pretty general terms — ■ 
 so long is this report becoming. I have 
 urged that landscape designs be se- 
 cured tor these. Their only purpose is 
 to be little oases of beauty, and if they 
 fail in that they are no use at all. 
 Huston is one of the best, but there 
 are some scattered shrubs that seem 
 to have wandered from the fold and 
 need to be called back; a few canna 
 have been dropped hit or miss around 
 the fountain; and the rectangular 
 flower bed against the shrubbery at the 
 west end is an incongruous develop- 
 ment. Redmond park, when I saw it, 
 was still in process; but there were 
 like general objections. Clearly a care- 
 fully thought out, artistic design would 
 help these small parks. As to Whit- 
 tam, there is nothing attractive about 
 the square as it now is. I was not sur- 
 prised always to find it well nigh de- 
 serted — even by the children whom 
 there had evidently been some attempt 
 to entice. A hedge along the north- 
 west side, and a screening of the ugly 
 shed at the southwest corner by a 
 close row of poplars would help a lit- 
 tle. With regard to the children it 
 should be remembered that even more 
 necessary than apparatus is wise di- 
 rection. Given this, a playground may 
 become immensely popular with no ap- 
 paratus at all. 
 
 4. I come now to the two great scars. 
 These are the gash that the railroads 
 make through tlie city, and the dilap- 
 idated island in its very center. 
 
 As to the railroads, there are many 
 other things to consider tlian appear- 
 ance. I shall simply utter a word of 
 caution regarding a proposal that the 
 railroads be taken from Fourth street 
 and given a right-of-way along the 
 river. The brave and inspiring story 
 of what the people of Springfield, Mass., 
 have done, in lately buying back at a 
 cost of a million dollars — much of it 
 raised by popular subscription — the 
 river bank that had been sold to the 
 railroads, should be a warning to Ce- 
 dar Rapids. Before any such deal is 
 made as has been suggested, that 
 Springfield story should be studied. 
 There may further be consideration 
 that to put the railroads on the river 
 edge would be to abandon all idea of 
 beautifying the island, to give up the 
 riverside parks and drives of which we 
 have tliought, to make Cedar Rapids a 
 thoroughly commonplace town, illus- 
 trating the most familiar fault of 
 American cities, instead of one of dis- 
 tinctive beauty, from which they could 
 learn lessons; and hopelessly to sep- 
 arate east side and west. For no one 
 who did not absolutely have to do so 
 would cross from one side to the other, 
 if to the break made by the river there 
 were added the necessity of crossing 
 over the tracks of several noisy, dirty 
 railroad lines. The west side would 
 develop its own stores and business, 
 and the communities would soon be- 
 come distinct. 
 
 With regard to the fear that eleva- 
 tion of the tracks would mean a scar 
 across the city, it might be answered 
 that a scar is better than a gash — 
 which is the present condition. But by 
 requiring the use of stone and con- 
 crete retaining walls, earth filled, there 
 would be none of the hideousness or 
 noise of the usual elevated railroad; 
 and it might be possible to carry First 
 avenue at least above the tracks. Fur- 
 ther, a distinct barrier between a city's 
 business and residential quarters is a 
 good thing for its artistic development 
 and the attractiveness of life in it. The 
 plan will have, of course, to be care- 
 fully worked out by engineers, but it 
 seems to me to be better worth look- 
 ing into than the suggestion that the 
 riverbank be relinquished to the rail- 
 roads. 
 
 As to the island, I believe that here 
 lies Cedar Rapids' greatest opportun- 
 ity. It presents a chance to convert an 
 eyesore into a distinctive and splendid 
 possession. A comparatively small 
 amount of money will buy the island, 
 for the very isolation that so increases 
 its value for park and public building 
 purposes decreases its availability for 
 
business; and we have to reflect that 
 with the money which would buy it we 
 are obtaining — in the very center of a 
 large and growing city — a tract some 
 1,200 feet in length and nearly 300 in 
 average width, its light protected on 
 all sides, danger from spreading fires 
 absolutely eliminated and its borders 
 so gloriously secured that there never 
 would be danger of private construc- 
 tion overshadowing and dwarfing what 
 the municipality may determine to put 
 here. We would be giving to Cedar 
 Rapids a chance such as hardly any 
 other city in the world has ever had to_ 
 create a civic picture. It is noteworthy, 
 indeed, that as this is written there is 
 under serious consideration in Boston 
 a project for actually constructing an 
 island in the Charles river, so that at 
 vast expense Boston may secure some 
 such opportunity as nature has giv- 
 en to Cedar Rapids. An expert's argu- 
 ment on the project contains these 
 words: "Buildings here would have 
 the great advantage of being seen from 
 a considerable distance. They would 
 acquire dignity through a certain aloof- 
 ness. Such an island, with domes and 
 towers of public buildings rising above 
 the trees, would be almost unique In 
 the line of civic beauty, whether in the 
 old world or in the new." It does not 
 seem to me advisable to abandon such 
 an opportunity in Cedar Rapids, even 
 though, as substitute, the public build- 
 ings were to be grouped on the river 
 bank, by joining the island to the east 
 side mainland as was once, interesting- 
 ly, proposed. 
 
 A sale of the present city hall site 
 would go far toward the purchase of 
 the island. To buy the latter, to grade 
 and park it, to erect upon it a civic 
 center, constructing there a new city 
 hall, a court house worthy of the coun- 
 ty — of which Cedar Rapids would, we 
 may be sure, promptly become the seat 
 — and still have room for other public 
 buildings, as with the growth of the 
 city these will be needed, that is an 
 ideal to work toward that should be full 
 of insoiration to every citizen. Nor is 
 it necessary that I should picture how 
 stunning the effect would be — new 
 bridges of monumental construction 
 like that at Second avenue, leading to 
 the island; its present broken, shabby 
 surface graded and parked; the noble 
 buildings placed on the long axis, fac- 
 ing with double fronts each shore, 
 malls connecting them with one an- 
 other. Indeed, the very angle at which 
 the bridges spring from the mainland 
 to the island is a favoring chance, leav- 
 ing available locations that will render 
 the buildings visible for long distances 
 on the avenues. Do this, since it so 
 easily can be done, and the cities of 
 the United States will have something 
 
 to learn of civic effectiveness from the 
 middle West. * 
 
 I have written a long report. My ex- 
 cuse must be an inspiring subject. 
 The possibilities that lie before Cedar 
 Rapids, in some respects unique, are so 
 fine; the good achievements of the past 
 in the building of the city so cry out 
 for worthy supplementing today; the 
 chances to do much at little cost; the 
 readiness to hear, and most of all the 
 interest of the municipal administra- 
 tion — these are the encouraging factors 
 that make one paint with detail and 
 care the picture of the Cedar Rapids 
 that can be made, and will be. 
 
 In a history of the city, which I find 
 in the official program of its fiftieth an- 
 niversary, there are these words: "This 
 city represents no haphazard accidental 
 growth. It was planned for from the 
 beginning, and became an article of 
 faith for men in control of affairs. 
 While others were satisfied with words 
 and promises, the men responsible for 
 the life of Cedar Rapids were insistent 
 upon deeds and materialization of pro- 
 jects. To gain the ends desired, their 
 time and means were spent, and per- 
 sonal and community credit pledged." 
 Events have justified the early faith, 
 have rewarded the early courage. If, 
 with that stimulus, there is the same 
 spirit today, when Iowa has become one 
 of the richest of commonwealths, this 
 report on what Cedar Rapids can do 
 will become at once the story of its 
 achievement — the chart of its voyaging 
 to a higher destiny. The program as 
 outlined, though generous in results, 
 is without any visionary quality. It is 
 practical, simple, easy to accomplish 
 step by step. For their own credit, to 
 their own advantage, the citizens must 
 require its carrying out. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 CHARLES MULFORD ROBINSON. 
 
 July 10, 1908. 
 
 * Since Mr. Robinson's visit the city has ac- 
 quired, by purchase and condemnation, the 
 island for park and public building purposes. 
 The old city hall site has been sold, and as this 
 report goes to the printer, the city is making 
 alterations in certain of the buildings on the 
 island for temporary public use. The city 
 offices will be moved to the island on or about 
 January 15, 1909. 
 
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