Statement of Significance
Description of Historic Place
Riley Park is a large 8.23 ha (20.35 acres) park in the community of Hillhurst. The park dates from 1911 and is comprised of an ornamental area along 10th Street NW, a wading pool, a large informal curved pathway, and a variety of recreational areas, including cricket pitches.
Heritage Value
The Heritage value lies in the association with Ezra Riley and William Reader; the planting design in the park, and the recreational activities available in the park.
Ezra Riley was a prominent figure in Calgary’s early history. Ezra came to Alberta in 1888 to homestead a quarter section of land with his family. By the early 1900’s the Riley Family had over 10,000 acres. Riley was a member of the legislative Assembly of Alberta for the Conservative Party from 1906-1910. In 1910 Ezra Riley subdivided the family land and created the community of Hillhurst. Riley donated part of the land to the City of Calgary to create the park that now bears his name.
William Roland Reader was Calgary’s Superintendent of Parks and Cemeteries from 1913-1942. This was an important time in the development of Calgary as there was much migration and subsequent construction. Reader’s goal was to develop Calgary into a destination of the west. His vision of Calgary was as a great city with high quality open space, including public parks, recreation facilities, and streets lined with trees and developed with landscaped areas, planted with ornamental shrubs and flowers. Riley Park was primarily designed and developed by Reader.
Reader’s floral-planting design along 10th Street was influenced by the City Beautiful Movement in urban development-planning. The movement supported beautification, monumental grandeur, and formality to encourage order and harmony. Advocates of the movement believed the approach would promote a harmonious social order that would increase the quality of life and help to reduce undesirable behaviour.
Early in his career in Calgary William Reader adopted this approach to beautifying the city. The intend was to illustrate that Calgary was a civilized city with high quality public spaces and was inhabited by civilized people. He wanted to ensure Calgary was a City where civilized individuals would like to migrate. Reader’s work included showpieces such as the Riley Park floral display which incorporated colourful floral displays with vibrant mixtures of annuals and perennials.
The majority of the park design (excluding the 10th Street floral display) was influenced more by the picturesque movement where an emphasis was placed more on informal, natural in appearance, and curvilinear design elements; the natural shape of the wading pool, the curvilinear pathway, and the natural in appearance planting along the edges of the park reflect this approach.
The planting along the west, south and north edges of the park is typical of park design from the 1910’s, 1920’s and 30’s. During the early development of Calgary (and into 1940’s) parks were thought of as refuges from the rest of the City. There were typically dense plantings around the edges of parks to keep the dust and noise out of the park, and people in the park. This approach is in marked contrast to the way parks are designed today. Contemporary park design includes an emphasis on inviting people into the park and having transparency from the street. The dense shrub and tree plantings on the 3 edges of Riley Park illustrate typical park design in the 1910’s 1920’s and 1930’s.
The park is also significant for the wide variety of leisure activities. Leisure and recreational areas are important in the establishment of a city as they allow citizens opportunities to gather for leisure and social engagement. Play structures were erected as early as 1912. The wading pond began construction in 1913; 1914 included a substantial toboggan run; 1917 a playground shelter. In 1919 three cricket pitches were developed along with a clubhouse (although it is noted that The Calgary and District Cricket League began playing in Riley Park prior to that). Specific Cricket tournaments worth noting include the 1922 Interprovincial Cricket Tournament, 1961 Canadian National Cricket Tournament, 1965 International Cricket Match – Canada vs. the United States.
Character-Defining Elements
Character-defining elements of Riley Park include, but are not limited to:
- The existing 8.23 ha (20.35 acres) park land that is rectangular in shape
- the formal geometric floral display along the 10th Street edge
- the informal, natural in appearance, edge plantings along the west, north and south edges of the park
- the wading pool location
- the cricket pitches
- the curvilinear circulation pattern; and
- the 1949 ornamental gate at the 11th Street entrance
Location