(uplifting piano music) - [Narrator] During the mid to late 1800s, Peoria was rapidly expanding, and its population growing.

With our abundant resources, distilleries sprang up along the riverfront as steamboats traversed the Illinois, carrying cargo and passengers.

In the Summer, the city was hot, and people wanted a place to get away.

- Imagine going to a cemetery for a picnic.

That's what a lot of families did in the 1800s, after Springdale Cemetery opened in the 1850s.

There weren't many public areas for green space or for picnicking.

A lot of it was private parks that people opened, and to assure folks they wouldn't be molested by rowdies or be interrupted.

It was mostly an upper class kinda thing.

Parks were for the fancy folks going out.

- [Narrator] Cemeteries would also not disappear, unlike private parks which could be sold for development.

The city had no unified plan to create and maintain public green spaces, that is until 1893 when the Illinois General Assembly passed the Pleasure Driveway and Park Districts Act, creating an outline and legal path for municipalities to establish their own park districts.

Peoria would be the first to utilize this new legislation.

The residents voted and, almost a year after the bill's passage, the city elected a Board of Trustees for the newly formed Pleasure Driveway and Park District of Peoria.

Immediately, Board trustees began soliciting potential locations for future parks.

Soon, they were inundated with offers of land from local residents, for a price.

It soon became clear the Board needed an expert who could help them identify properties that held the most value.

The Board settled on the services of R.R.

Zingsem, a former New York City landscape engineer who'd been working in Chicago.

- [Monica] And this guy scolded the local Board and said, "You guys have avoided taking care "of this wealth of land that you have here.

"Hardly anywhere else in Illinois has what you have, "and it's about time to get your act together "and preserve all this."

- [Narrator] Zingsem helped the Board identify plots of land that would become the future homes of Glen Oak Park, South Park, and Madison Park.

He also recommended a scenic river overlook area near present day Peoria Heights.

The new Park District had a canvas, but now needed an artist.

Oscar Feliciano Dubuis was born June 15th, 1849 in Canton Vaud, Switzerland.

With schooling as an architect, he immigrated to the United States at 21.

Within a year, he'd settled in Chicago, taking a job as a draftsman for architect William Le Baron Jenney, who was later known as the father of the modern skyscraper.

- [Man] The great part about his story is he was really exposed to a lot of the kind of elite designers of the times.

This was about the time of the World's Columbian Exposition, or World's Fair, so Chicago was abuzz with all these design professionals.

So Jenney then became head of the Chicago West Park District, and Dubuis followed him and was kind of his underling for a while.

Eventually, Jenney left and Dubuis took over.

- [Narrator] Dubuis continued in that role for 21 years, until he was fired from the position due to political patronage issues.

But he was immediately hired as the landscape designer for Lincoln Park, and was serving there when he received a letter from Peoria.

- We found some papers in the Dubuis family archives that show a letter from the Peoria mayor in January of that year already asking if he might be willing to come down and take a look, since they were forming a park district soon.

So I think they had their eyes on Dubuis, and eventually he was hired in October of that year after they went up to Chicago and interviewed him.

The Board's original plan was to develop these newly identified tracks of land, plus a parcel of land that had been previously donated to the city by Lydia Moss Bradley.

But the largest question remained; where to build first.

John Burkett had acquired a considerable plot of undeveloped land on the East Bluff when he moved to Peoria in 1826.

It had beautiful trees, deep ravines, and continuous streams fed from underground springs.

Zingsem had identified his property as a prime location to develop a park, even though it was, at that time, on the far north end of the city.

By September of 1894, the new Board of Trustees negotiated a sale, and for $60,000, those 72 acres now belonged to the citizens of Peoria.

So when Oscar Dubuis came on board the following month, he was immediately put to the task of shaping this gem that mother nature had provided.

Within a few short months, he presented his plan to mold the hills and the trees into what would officially be named Glen Oak Park.

The main entrance would be below the bluff, and would feature a grand boulevard off Perry Street.

One would then traverse the rugged hillside to emerge onto open areas with raised flower beds, pastoral open fields, a grand conservatory, and a Victorian-style pavilion, which would house a plethora of activities.

Construction began in April of 1895.

Dubuis guided a massive workforce to achieve the near impossible.

By opening day on September 7th, 1896, the hills had been tamed with horse and buggy roads, the ornate Grand Palm House Conservatory had blossomed, and the pavilion had risen from the dirt.

Far from finished, however, work continued on the district's new show piece.

Pathways were completed through the woods over the bluff, and the sulfur springs that bubbled up along the hillside were turned into small pools with intricate rock work and masonry bridges.

Another 19 acres was acquired, and future plans included a bandstand that would rise next to the pavilion, plus an ornate sunken garden that would be constructed in the open area next to the Perry Street entrance below the bluff.

But the largest undertaking yet to be completed was the lagoon.

- So the Glen Oak Lagoon was quite a project.

It basically started its life as a ravine.

And Dubuis had a real fascination with water.

You can see that in his early work, and certainly in Glen Oak.

He spent a lot of time and money, and he must have been very persuasive, because this took several years to build.

So essentially that ravine was filled using horse drawn sleds and men with shovels.

(laughs) And it looks pretty much one of the worst jobs ever (laughs), but you can't argue with the results.

- [Narrator] During the warmer months, you could boat on the lagoon or enjoy the beauty of Rose Island, as music filled the park from the bandstand.

In the winter months, ice skaters glided across the frozen water, and enjoyed hot chocolate in the warming house.

By the time the major plans were completed, the facility was breathtaking.

Whether you were meditating in the sunken gardens, envying the exotic plants in the Grand Palm House Conservatory, or delighting in one of the many activities at the pavilion, it was a spectacle.

The public was excited and passionate about this new facility, and they wanted to be involved.

- [Michael] What's interesting to me is immediately, people started coming forward saying, "Oh, I've got a great idea for your park."

And so you see crazy things, like somebody has an alligator to donate, and they wanna put it in Glen Oak Park.

And suddenly there's a herd of elk on the shores of the lagoon.

You have things like a little model railroad shows up that kids can ride on.

All sorts of interesting things.

And these were people you couldn't really say no to.

They were state senators and folks in the community.

- [Narrator] This frenzy of excitement was just the beginning.

Glen Oak Park would be a hive of activity for years to come.

While Glen Oak Park was still being developed, concurrent work began on South Park.

If Glen Oak Park had been a nod to the more genteel aspects of society at the time, South Park would be the tribute to the working class.

- People don't realize, too, in Peoria at that time that most of your city was in what we considered Southtown now.

Most of your city was South of downtown Peoria.

So being at Glen Oak would be way north of where you're currently at.

This is a long day's trek.

It wasn't just like you hop in your car and you get there.

South Park was built to be a more intensive park.

From the very beginning, it was gonna be a playground park.

It had a small pavilion.

It was very well attended by picnickers.

South Park had a pool.

It had a bandstand.

It had some of the amenities that Glen Oak had, but it was really for the working class.

- And South Park was so endearing to that neighborhood, children mostly contributed their nickels, their dimes, their quarters, collected more than $50, that was a lot of money back then, to buy a special fountain called Out in the Rain.

And it was a statue of a boy and a girl holding an umbrella.

This was their park, and they wanted to put their mark on it.

- [Narrator] The small 10-acre spot was so popular and loved by the community that it wasn't long before a larger pavilion was constructed that could accommodate more indoor activities, with first floor and second floor kitchens for rental.

Music was so popular, a new two-story bandstand was erected in 1916.

South Park was later renamed Trewyn Park in honor of William Thomas Trewyn, a physician who had dedicated much of his life to the South side.

While the initial work was finishing on South Park, work was beginning on Laura Bradley park.

In 1881, Lydia Moss Bradley donated 39 acres of land to the city of Peoria for the development of a public park to honor her late daughter, Laura, who had passed away at an early age.

But at the time, the city was expanding so rapidly that its primary concern laid with building roads, sewers, and other infrastructure, so the property laid dormant until 1894 when the new Park Board paid Mrs. Bradley $1 for the transfer of the property to the district.

Although the land was open to the public early on, development of the park did not begin for several years after, as most of the resources were focused on Glen Oak and then South Park.

Bradley Park also had its own unique set of challenges.

The major challenge was Dry Run Creek, the watershed for most of Peoria's storm water above the bluff.

During large storms, the torrent produced would wash away bridges, boulders, and even large retaining walls.

When development commenced, plans included grand entrances at the end of Nebraska Street and Main Street, and roads that would wind around hearty oak trees as they snaked through the property.

A large pavilion for activities, with an adjacent bandstand, would be constructed overlooking the valley below, and there were to be beautiful fountains, rustic bridges, and a lush Japanese garden.

- The interstate really clouds how you view that park today.

It's very cut off, whereas back when it was built, it was totally different.

This was laid out kind of like Glen Oak in that it has pleasure driveways, very much for the carriage crowd, and it was also the place where some of the animals got overflowed from Glen Oak.

Dubuis also wanted a large, concrete-rimmed wading pool that would surround part of the Japanese garden.

However, they soon ran headlong into another issue.

Because of the sandy soil that existed over the bluff, the pool refused to hold water for any length of time.

Although enjoyed by the public for years when Dry Run Creek would flood and fill the pool, the structure was eventually abandoned after years of frustration.

Early on, tennis courts were installed, and baseball, soccer, and football fields were carved into the land, as a new desire for recreation was beginning to emerge.

- [Monica] Folks gravitated to this as their neighborhood park.

They wanted to see more there as the folks at South had done.

Bradley was Lydia Moss Bradley's legacy to Peoria.

- [Narrator] Long before the Peoria Park District was formed, people were admiring the view from atop the bluffs.

But Dubuis wanted to share access of these vistas to the general public, with a different type of park, a linear park.

- [Man] Our official name says it best.

It's a Pleasure Driveway.

It's a place where you can simply sit back and enjoy the view as it comes to you or you pass it by.

- [Narrator] On October 14th, 1903, the groundbreaking ceremony was held and construction began.

If one thought securing all the land deeds had been an arduous process, it paled in comparison to the task of surmounting the hill.

In the days before mechanical earth moving equipment, the job was completed by man and horse.

But by 1904, most of the road grating had been finished and a 72-foot steel tower had been constructed as an observation platform along the drive.

When the initial plans for Grandview were complete, in addition to the beautiful, tree-lined drive, there would be playgrounds above and below the bluff, a spacious pavilion at the entrance to the drive in Averyville, and a beautiful belvedere up near the Country Club of Peoria.

- [Man] I think that's what is so spectacular about Grandview Drive, is the way that Dubuis laid it out to get up to the top of the bluff, I think is kind of a magical journey.

And the nearness of the river is really important in that experience.

Starting down at the industrial riverfront, going through these peaceful woods, you get that serenity, these nice views, and then you end up in this really neat little downtown of Peoria Heights.

- [Narrator] In 1910, while touring the drive on a visit to Peoria to give a speech, Theodore Roosevelt remarked, "I have traveled all over the world, "and this is the world's most beautiful drive."

Grandview Drive was still being developed when Oscar Dubuis passed away on October 16th, 1906.

The city and the Board mourned the loss, and noted how his contributions had laid the foundation for the district.

But the trustees knew these four developing parks were only just the beginning.

In addition to the 1894 purchase of Burkett's Hollow up north, and Griswold's 10-acre parcel to the south, was an 86-acre plot in what was then the far west edge of town.

- The Park District wanted to create new experiences for folks, ordinary folks, and the only golf course in Peoria was a country club in Peoria at the time.

Madison, though, they weren't quite sure what to do with.

It was so far out of town that it was kind of growing.

They had some farmers growing some stuff there.

It was kind of a dumping ground also for some of the things from the other parks.

It took it a while to find its niche.

- [Narrator] But in 1909, the Park District unveiled the first nine-hole public golf course in central Illinois.

- [Monica] They would show it off against any other nine-hole course in the country.

They were so proud of it.

And then demand increased.

They built a clubhouse with lockers and shower baths.

And they were for the men and for the women, 'cause women now were starting to learn golf.

It opened up a sport that had only been for elites, the rich, the wealthy.

- [Narrator] Popular from the start, Madison secured its place as the cornerstone of golf in Peoria.

While no parkland is ever truly complete, by the 1920s, the first five original developments were quite mature and always busy.

Peoria was still expanding, and other small neighborhood parks had begun to sprout up throughout the city.

As peoples' desire for recreation opportunities increased, the park also began to expand in new directions.

- [Man] You have this kind of evolution of recreation at the time.

Supervised play and recreation programming started to become a thing in the teens, '20s, and '30s.

And suddenly we see an upsurge in people wanting to be out in the parks doing active things, not just enjoying the drive or the Pleasure Driveway.

They wanted to be doing things.

So we start to see more programming starting.

And I think that's where you start seeing the field days.

In addition, you start seeing competitive sports.

- [Narrator] As the community wanted this new active programming, grassy vistas became baseball fields, and stagnant wading ponds gave way to new, more hygienic swimming pools at Glen Oak Park and Logan Park.

In the late '20s, Madison Golf Course was already bursting at the seams, with up to three hour wait times and attendance figures nearing 75,000 rounds per year.

Golf had become so popular that citizens worked with the Park District to acquire land on North Knoxville Avenue, and on July 4th, 1929, Northmore Golf Course opened.

In 1930, Madison would expand to 18 holes.

And after purchasing 160 more acres from Bradley Polytechnic, Bradley Golf Course, later renamed Newman, would open in 1934.

In 1927, Thomas Detweiller donated a 661-acre farm north of Peoria in honor of his father and famed steamboat captain, Henry Detweiller.

As the property was not in Peoria, it was held in a trust until the city could annex that far north.

This site would one day become one of the Park District's most actively programmed athletic areas.

In 1932, the Park District would be given a facility that would further cement the role of the district from purely a land host, to one of educator and programming.

- [Man] Proctor Center was very big and it reflected this new, more active lifestyle that they were looking for for the children of the city.

So Proctor Recreation Center had a girl's gym, a boy's gym.

It had a pool.

It had tennis courts.

It had a track.

It had a billiards room, an auditorium for dance, and classes for dancing.

It was all about bringing the kids in to an area, kind of corralling them and trying to focus their energies.

- [Narrator] But prohibition, The Great Depression, and World War II hit central Illinois hard, taking away funds needed to maintain or replace facilities.

By the mid-1940s, a new direction was needed as the public's tastes had changed.

America was on the go, and people were no longer visiting the sulfur springs or sunken gardens of yesteryear.

In July of 1945, the Park District hired landscape engineer Rhodell E. Owens.

Owens, like Dubuis before him, was a visionary.

He wanted to get the Park District back on peoples' minds, and have the district be a vibrant and active participant in the community.

He immediately set to the task of cleaning up the parks, both physically and financially.

When it came time for the controversial decision to demolish the deteriorating grand Victorian Palm House, the bigger question became how to replace it, and more to the point, what to replace it with.

At that time, the collection of animals in Glen Oak Park, and other facilities, was a zoo in everything but name.

So the board finalized plans for Glen Oak Zoo to be built on the old Palm House location, with new conservatories to be constructed nearby.

Mutual of Omaha's Marlin Perkins was brought in as an advisor, and the grand opening was in May of 1955.

A half century later, those facilities had become inadequate.

Zoos, like parks, had evolved and were now environments to showcase species, rather than viewing caged animals.

In 2009, the new Peoria Zoo opened.

There was a new entrance, new enclosures for larger animals, and a new Africa exhibit, which placed animals in a more natural setting.

As the city continued to expand, the park continually looked for the best ways to use public lands.

A parcel of land that had been purchased on the corner of lake avenue on University Street was slowly being developed as a new neighborhood park.

However, Rhodell Owens noted there seemed to be more commercial development around that location than there was residential.

- Maybe a typical neighborhood park is not the right thing for this spot.

He instead kinda guides this direction to a cultural park.

Basically he turns it into a shopping center for culture and arts.

- [Narrator] In addition to the pool and the ice rink, Lakeview Park would eventually accommodate Peoria Players Theater, the YWCA, a library, and a new Arts and Sciences Museum with a planetarium.

Music has always been a part of the Park District landscape.

Bandstands were included in the designs of all the early parks, and were programmed by the park from the beginning.

By the late '50s, however, the only bandstand that remained was in Glen Oak Park.

Constructed in 1896, the structure was in poor shape.

Over the hill, public usage of the lagoon had sharply decreased over the years, so a portion of the lagoon was back filled to create a new amphitheater home for the Peoria Municipal Band.

The Park District was also taking on new roles as an environmental educator.

Naturalist and philanthropist Bill Rutherford would work with the Park District to set up the Forest Park Foundation, which would serve to secure areas of natural landscape for preservation, and to be used for research, education, and enjoyment by the public.

It was a symbiotic arrangement, where the foundation would own the lands and the Park District would serve as steward.

Several nature preserves exist within the parks system today, with the most recognizable being Forest Park Nature Center, with its seven miles of hiking trails and its rustic, a-framed Interpretive Center.

By the last decade of the 20th century, the park wanted to become even more involved in revitalizing the Peoria riverfront.

In addition to managing new city facilities, like the gateway building, and other areas of what would become Riverfront Park, the Park District partnered with a local healthcare corporation to build the RiverPlex, a full service health and fitness center.

Today, the Park District is still evolving.

Neighborhood parks, bike trails, and nature preserves continue to be developed to meet the needs of the people.

What began as a scattering of private and city-operated parks in the late 19th Century has turned into a 21st Century network of recreation and education opportunities for all Central Illinois to enjoy.

- [Monica] If somebody had not taken time, if somebody had not put the reins on construction and industry, and looked at what we were given, we could have lost all this.

We could have lost it for more smokestacks and everything else, and it wouldn't make Peoria the well-rounded community it is today.

- Any community that has a well-run Park District, vital resources, things for all walks of life to do, they benefit.

Some corporations, even companies, move to areas because of their park districts.

- And that's really what I think we wanna generate as a community, opportunities for people to get together, to meet each other, to meet family, to meet friends.

That's really what we oughta be about creating, and that's why I think the parks, going to a park in my experience, is such an advantage and can play that role.

- When people have high quality, natural areas outside their back door, it's much easier for people to develop a sense of place.

Where am I on this Earth?

There's very few places in Illinois you can say, "I know what Illinois is," and our parks provide one of those touchstones that people can have that experience.

- We didn't just luck into having a good Park District.

We have a good Park District because it was prioritized decades ago, and people have continued to desire that quality in the Park District, and that's why we have it.

- And I'm so lucky to work with fantastic people every day.

So I'm surrounded by people who have a passion for this industry, have a passion for helping to make other peoples' lives brighter.

Any time someone says to me, "Thank you.

"My kids learned so much in that program," or "I'm so happy that I spent my lunchtime in that park."

That's why I keep doing this.

Really seeing the impact every day that you can have on a person's life makes it worth it.

(triumphant music)