The Delano Park, operated by the Decatur Parks and Recreation

Decatur Parks and Recreation

Decatur Parks and Recreation is a recreation department in the city of Decatur, Alabama. The board is operated by members appointed by the city council for five year terms...

 Board, is the oldest park in the city of Decatur, Alabama

Decatur, Alabama

Decatur is a city in Limestone and Morgan Counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. The city, affectionately known as "The River City", is located in Northern Alabama on the banks of Wheeler Lake, along the Tennessee River. It is the largest city and county seat of Morgan County...

.

It was created in 1887, as part of a master plan to "re-invent" the City of Decatur, then New Decatur. The city created the "Decatur Land Improvement and Furnace Company

Decatur Land Improvement and Furnace Company

Decatur Land Improvement and Furnace Comany, Inc. was a company which engaged in a planned urban development in the state of Alabama in the late nineteenth century. On January 11, 1887, as Decatur, Alabama was still rebuilding from the destructive results of the war and the outbreak, the Decatur...

" for this specific purpose. The company employed a landscape architect by the name of Nathan Franklin Barrett to design a whole new city that had been ravaged by a Yellow Fever

Yellow fever

Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....

 epidemic and the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. The park was designed to be the focal point of the entire plan.

The park, named after President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was dedicated in the 1930s by Roosevelt himself and later named in his honor as part of a newspaper contest, which sought to commemorate his vision for municipal parks across America. The land was donated to the city of Albany as part of the New Deal

New Deal

The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...

, which included a large plan to develop the poverty-ridden city.

The park remained mostly a solitary attraction on the fringe of downtown as the only large park in town during that era. This changed in the mid 1950s when the new Decatur High School

Decatur High School (Alabama)

Decatur High School is a public high school in Decatur, Alabama, United States. It is one of two high schools in the Decatur City School District. Decatur High offers technical, academic, and International Baccalaureate programs, as well as dual enrollment with the John C...

 constructed a new school building to replace an overcrowding "Riverside" High School building.
The far eastern end once consisted of a swimming pool called the "Blue Haven". This pool has since been filled in, and the Decatur High marching band now uses a practice field that was created over the former swimming area.

The middle portion of the park contains a children's playground, the new "Splash Pad", and a ditch with a concrete bridge donated to the park. The bridge was moved in the 1930's from Ferry Street to accentuate the beauty of the park and has been a favorite location for young and old alike ever since.

Splash Pad

The "Splash Pad" was built as a part of a large plan to revitalize the whole of Delano Park. It was installed during 2006 and first became available for use in the summer of 06'. It features numerous jets and sprayers that issue water from both the walls and floor of the pad. The floor is a large scale map of the State of Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

, it maps the main rivers and largest cities in the state, including:

• Birmingham
  Birmingham, Alabama
  Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
  
  
• Montgomery
  Montgomery, Alabama
  Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
  
  
• Huntsville
  Huntsville, Alabama
  Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....
  
  
• Mobile
  Mobile, Alabama
  Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
  
  
• Decatur
  Decatur, Alabama
  Decatur is a city in Limestone and Morgan Counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. The city, affectionately known as "The River City", is located in Northern Alabama on the banks of Wheeler Lake, along the Tennessee River. It is the largest city and county seat of Morgan County...
  
  

Revitalization of Delano

Plans are currently underway to create many more attractions for the park. The group, "Friends of Delano," are leading an effert to add historical trails, gardens, higher levels of safety, and a way to connect the western portion with the middle portion of the park. So far, funding is in order, and the attractions are in the planning stage.

The historic "Delano Rose Garden" was re-created between the years of 2005 and 2006 as an exact restructuring of the former rose garden that once stood as part of the original Delano plan. The garden had been none existent for decades but was finally rebuilt in junction with the revitalization.

The need for a way to connect the western portion to the middle portion is a high priority for the city. 6th Avenue (US 31) successfully cuts the park in two, effectively depriving the western portion of much needed attention. A historical trail has been built, beginning in the eastern portion, traveling through the middle portion and eventually connecting with the western portion in an attempt to spur more foot traffic throughout the park. The trail also intends to allow for a safer crossing of 6th Avenue as it is one of the busiest streets inside the city.

Sources