League Island Park (F.D.R. Park) Historical Significance
The conception of F.D.R. Park, formerly League Island Park, began in the early 1900s. The Department of Public works established a program to develop and create a park system throughout the City of Philadelphia. City Officials saw League Island Park as a linchpin of that system in South Philadelphia. The philosophy behind the park system was "streets, playgrounds, parks, parkways, public squares and riverfront improvements are all essential to the modem city." Originally designed in 1908 by the City's Bureau of Surveys, the park stretched from Pattison Avenue to the Navy Yard and from 11th Street to 20th Street. However, politics and economics stalled the construction of League Island Park in 1910 and in 1912 the Department of Public Works approached the Olmsted Brothers to redesign the park.
The Olmsted Brothers landscape architectural firm accepted the commission to design League Island Park. The firm, a successor to the one founded by Frederick Law Olmsted, continued Olmsted's vision of landscape architecture. Olmsted, in concert with Calvert Vaux, designed many exceptional parks throughout the United States, including Central Park in New York City, Prospect Park in Brooklyn, and part of Boston's Emerald Necklace. When Olmsted became ill in 1895, he left the firm in the hands of his stepson, John (1852-1920), and his partner, Charles Eliot. In 1897, Eliot died suddenly and Rick, at the age of 27, became a partner with his stepbrother. They renamed the firm Olmsted Brothers and continued to take on new projects.
The design of the park with its picturesque curving roads, walks, lakes, and tree planting was executed in the tradition of the romantic park design characteristic of the period. Typical Olmsted features appear in the design of League Island Park: a wide expanse of field greets visitors as they first enter the park; the flow of each area is subtly separated for specific activities, and the lack of any one site or piece of architecture viewed for its individual beauty.
In 1926, League Island Park was used as a portion of the Sesquicentennial Exposition of American Independence. The total fair extended over 1,000 acres, from Packer Avenue south to the river between 11th and 20th Streets. A number of buildings were constructed for the exposition, with several in the park itself, including the Japanese Pavilion, the Municipal Stadium and the John Morton Memorial Building built in honor of the signer of the Declaration of Independence by the Swedish-American Centennial Association. This building is now the Swedish American Museum and is the only building created specifically for the Sesquicentennial celebration still standing in the park. For the Exposition the existing boathouse was made a "Russian Tea Room" with dining tables and chairs on the upper level and lower decks. The present concert grove was a "Treasure Island."
Despite all of the grand exhibits, the Sesquicentennial celebration was a failure. Philadelphia politics delayed the construction for the exposition, budget constraints limited its development and the preparations fell far behind schedule. Bad weather, bad press and bad word-of-mouth doomed the Exposition. Attendance never reached the expected number of 30 million visitors and when the Exposition closed in November, Philadelphia was left with a $9 million debt.
After the Sesquicentennial, League Island Park reverted back to its original purpose as a public park, with only the American Swedish Historical Museum and the Municipal Stadium remaining from the exposition. In the late 1940s the City renamed the park Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park in honor of the former President. The City redeveloped the area east of Broad Street several times, completely eradicating any of the original Olmsted design. The southern portion was lost in the 1950s with the construction of Interstate 95 and its access ramps around Broad Street.
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