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STAFF REPORT CONCERNING APPLICATION FOR A CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS Date: March 8, 2004 Application Number: 2004-0304 Property Location: Leeper Park West Property Owner: City of South Bend Landmark or District Designation: Local Landmark & National Register District - Designed Landscape Rating: STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE/HISTORIC CONTEXT In 1895, the City of South Bend purchased land along the Saint Joseph River for a well field and water pumping station. Sixty artesian wells and the first pumping station were built in this year. The City upgraded the original Pumping Station in 1912. The North Pumping Station and the covered reservoir are the result of this construction project. The area surrounding the Pumping Station and the reservoir had been used as a park as early as 1897, but was first named Leeper Park in 1900. Between 1901 and 1906, the City of South Bend acquired most of the land that now composes Leeper Park. During the first decade of its existence, Leeper Park underwent much landscape development. The City Parks Board under the supervision of Superintendent Herman Beyer seeded the lawn, planted flower beds, constructed a lily pond and later designed and dug two lagoons (a duck pond and a lily pond) and a wading pool, built a rustic bridge to the island, relocated Navarre Cabin, and laid macadam drives and walkways. In 1911, noted landscape architect George Kessler prepared a master plan for South Bend to develop a citywide park and boulevard system. Leeper Park became a focal point within Kessler's plan. He had specified the expansion of Leeper Park and the extension of its drives to connect with the nearby residential neighborhoods. Kessler had also discussed the locations of active and passive recreation within Leeper Park. The western portion contained many plans for active recreation with plantings and trees to beautify the area. The eastern and central sections provided natural or "rustic" and more formal locations for passive recreation — strolling, picnicking, and reading — in the many gardens and on Leeper Island. Some of Kessler's proposals were implemented including the layout of the drives in the central area of the park. In 1915, the Michigan Street Bridge was rebuilt in its current City Beautiful form. Between 1916 and 1922, a few more gardens and more parkland were added to Leeper Park, such as the Rose Garden and a circular pergola with vines. The Parks Board added two acres of land by filling in a slough between the island and park. In the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration funded several projects in Leeper Park through the supply of labor. The WPA dredged the slough and constructed a retaining wall around the island with salvaged scrap concrete and glacial rock in 1936. In 1938, a shelter house was built near the current location of the tennis courts. Additions that are more recent include the Zeigler Performing Center (1940), the fragrance garden (1950), the tennis courts, tennis house, and other temporary elements. Though only traces of the many flowerbeds designed by Herman Beyer and later members of the Parks Board remain, other architectural elements and circulation patterns maintain the more formal aesthetics of the early plans for the park. The mature trees provide canopy coverage and are important natural, visual, and defining features of the park.