History

The planting of the western portion of the East 17th Avenue Parkway median, from Colorado Boulevard to Dahlia Street (a distance of eight blocks), followed the April 1913 plan prepared by America's premier landscape design firm, Olmsted Brothers of Brookline, Massachusetts. This planting plan, which was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., is one of the few Olmsted plans actually implemented in Denver.

Although original planting plans have not been found for the portion of median from Dahlia Street to Monaco Street Parkway, that length of the parkway was planted in a manner which clearly reflects the hand of S.R. DeBoer. DeBoer was the brilliant and influential landscape architect who, having immigrated to the United States from Holland in 19-3, served Denver as its Landscape Architect (1910-1931), as an independent consultant to the City (1932-1958), and as the dean of his profession until his death in 1974. The impact of Olmsted and DeBoer on Denver is thus represented by East 17th Ave. Parkway.

The Olmsted segment of the parkway is axially symmetrical (e.g. the planting is balanced on either side of a line drawn down the middle of the median). The median features a typical Olmsted design, a concentration of evergreens in mid-block taper in height to shrubs and flowering trees at the intersections. 17th Avenue Parkway retains the integrity of the original design. Most of the landscape remains intact today, even though some of the original elms are missing.

Olmsted's hallmark palette for this parkway included 59 species of plant material in addition to the elms within the tree lawn. The Olmstead plan also notes the placement of lighting standards on both sides of the parkway at 100' intervals. The design of the fixture was similar to the standards then installed in Lincoln Park in Chicago. The material for the 10' light standard was an aggregate of Portland Cement and Tennessee marble. The light was a 75watt tungsten bulb. The fixtures have long since been removed and have not been replaced.

While both Olmsted and DeBoer attempted, in late 19th and early 20th century fashion, to create Arcadian environments in urban settings, the DeBoer median plantings present a setting which is more like a winding country lane. Indeed, although the plantings are beautiful when seen from an automobile, the full impact and understanding of the subtle similarities and differences between the DeBoer plantings and the Olmstead plantings, can only be realized on foot. DeBoer's spaces are certainly complementary to the more formal and symmetrical spaces designed by Olmstead. DeBoer screened the roadway with plantings, first on one side and then on the other, and thereby created a romantic path from one open space to the next. The open spaces thus read as a series of meadows. DeBoer's landscape comes alive with color in the spring and early summer as one progresses through the parkway. DeBoer included many of the same plant species used by Olmstead, but DeBoer, while generally using fewer species in his planting, added some not called for by Olmstead, particularly Crabapple and Latch.

Historical Evolution

The stages of development of this parkway are representative of the pattern typically followed in Denver. The right-of-way (ranging from 206-225 feet in width) was acquired in 1909. The funds were made available pursuant to park district bonds supported after a vote by assessment of property owners in the district. After appropriate surveys and design work the land was graded in 1910. Concrete curbs and gutters were installed during the following year. The planting of street trees was accomplished at about the same time as the installation of the curbs and gutters. In this regard, the planting of street trees was a common practice in Denver as it was elsewhere at the time. Street trees were thus an expected element of a parkway planting regardless of the other design elements and provided a strong and agreeable design structure for the roadway. In some cases, shrubs were planted in the median strip at the same time as the street trees, but more often the full design and planting of the median was accomplished after the planting of street trees. Finally, a water delivery system, essential to the survival of the trees in the Denver climate, had to be in place when the trees were planted.