Tenny Park

Rick Bernstein

On May 8, 1995, Madison's Tenney Park and Yahara River Parkway became Madison Landmarks 125 and 126. The nominations were prepared by local historic preservation consultant Beth Miller.
The two parks together cover just over sixty acres. The eastern boundary runs approximately 50 feet from the east bank of the Yahara River, and the western boundary runs along Marston Avenue to East Johnson Street, and then approximately 50 feet from the west bank of the Yahara.

The parks lie at the edge of the area that was the Original Plat of Madison, surveyed in 1836. When work began on Tenney Park in 1900, it was at the eastern edge of the city, and there was very little development east of the Yahara River. The construction of the parks created very desirable residential neighborhoods north of East Washington Avenue and south of Williamson Street, and many new homes were built in these areas between about 1905 and 1930.

Tenney Park was developed between 1900 and 1911. Noted Chicago landscape architect Ossian Cole (O.C.) Simonds created the first design for the park, which called for the creation of a lagoon with three islands of different sizes. His plan was modified after 1908 by prominent Massachusetts landscape architect John Nolen. Nolen's plan called for filling in part of the lagoon to crate one large, ten-acre island, and it created large open spaces where people could gather to participate in sports or listen to concerts. Nolen's planting plan called for largely native trees and shrubs, carefully chosen and located to give an unplanned, natural appearance. The Madison Parks Division is currently following Nolen's plan during replanting.

There are a variety of structures in Tenney Park which contribute to the historical and aesthetic importance of the park, including the park's oldest structure, the Prairie style restroom designed by noted Milwaukee architect George B. Ferry and built in 1909 near the intersection of Sherman and Marston Avenues. Four Tenney Park bridges are excellent examples of aesthetically designed pre-1940 bridges (9f which there are 11 in Madison, such as the Marston Avenue bridge, built in 1912 and designed by City Engineer John Icke. The most recent structure in the park is the Thornton Avenue Spillway, where water from the Yahara River enters the lagoon. Built in 1936, it is an excellent example of a rustic bridge.

The Yahara River Parkway was also designed by O.C. Simonds. work began in 1903-when the river and its banks were marshy and had been used often for dumping dead horses, cats, and dogs-and was completed in 1906. Simonds' plan called for a meandering path on each bank of the river, and irregular, natural-looking plantings mostly consisting of native trees and shrubs. Today, the plantings are less dense than Simonds laid out, but remain irregular and naturalistic. Four concrete arch bridges in Yahara River Parkway are good examples of aesthetically designed pre-1940 bridges, and are in keeping with the natural, Prairie School design of the park. they include the 1904 concrete arch bridge over Williamson Street, which may be the oldest automobile bridge remaining in Madison.

The parks are significant for a number of reasons. Both are excellent, intact examples of Prairie School landscape architecture, and representative of the work of the found of the that school of design, O.C. Simonds. In addition, the parks were developed by the Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association (MPPDA), a voluntary organization that changed the physical development and environmental character of Madison during its existence from 1894 to 1938. The development of the two parks began an era of tremendous park philanthropy in Madison. Tenney Park was the first in-city park given to the MPPDA; the MPPDA had previously focused on developing scenic drives, mostly located outside the city. Daniel K. Tenney paid for the land on the condition that the MPPDA develop and maintain the park and hold the land in trust for the city. The establishment of the park changed the focus of the MPPDA from pleasure drives outside the city to include in-city parks for the less affluent. The Yahara River Parkway was the first in Madison and the first funded with public subscriptions rather than large gifts from a few donors.

Today, the Yahara River Parkway provides a direct link between the Tenney-Lapham and Old Marketplace neighborhoods on the north, and the Marquette, Atwood, and Schenk neighborhoods on the south side of the Isthmus. This linkage includes connecting three city Parks (Tenney Beach and Park, Burr Jones Field, and Yahara Place Park), and Marquette Elementary and Georgia O'Keeffe Middle schools.

The City of Madison is currently planning an open space corridor paralleling the Yahara River Parkway. The Parkway corridor would consist of a one-mile long asphalt pedestrian path, eight to ten feet wide, across Madison's Isthmus between Lakes Mendota and Monona.

Last year, the City applied for Wisconsin Department of Transportation funds to undertake engineering studies to determine whether underground crossings could be built across the parkway at East Washington Avenue and Johnson Street. The application was turned down, so the City will look for other funding sources. The City's plans for the open space corridor will continue; Planners would like the process to be completed by the end of the year. Neighborhood residents will have an opportunity to voice their opinions about the public corridor at a planning session sometime this fall.

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