It’s Always a Pleasant Time to Visit Highland Park

BY ELIJAH ROBINSON

Quinn says one of the central goals of the conservancy was to raise money for the Children’s Pavilion upgrades. Quinn explains that the Children’s Pavilion, which served as a public scenic overlook in the park’s original purpose, is now being rebuilt, a er being taken down in 1963: e park began in the 1880s as the dream of two civic-minded Rochester nurserymen, George Ellwanger and Patrick Barry. ey had watched the city grow steadily closer to their Mount Hope Nurseries for 40 years. To bring country living to urban residents, Ellwanger and Barry created a public park on almost twenty acres of their nursery grounds and donated them to the city. Olmsted was hired by the Rochester Parks Commission in 1888 to design and plan the city’s rst public park: Highland Park.

Parks have gained renewed interest since the pandemic, and it’s not hard to see why. Originally designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Highland Park is a world-class arboretum and National Register-listed landscape. It is the oldest public arboretum in the United States.

Since the beginning, talented horticulturists have contributed to Ellwanger and Barry’s dream. eir goal was to expand and enrich the park’s botanical collections by acquiring rare and unusual plants from around the world. In the 20th century, Highland Park achieved international fame for its display of lilacs, many of which were cultivated right here in Rochester.

MarkQuinn,MonroeCounty’sSuperintendentofHorticulture, says, “Highland Park is central to the park system here. It’s one of the premier arboretums in the country. It absolutely is critical to bringing people into the area. We talk about the Lilac Festival, bringing in upwards of 500,000 people for a 10-day festival, and even throughout the rest of the year, the park is highly visited. Having good parks in the community is critical. Having Olmstead parks is a real stroke of luck.”

Using the Pinnacle Range, a glacial moraine, Olmsted emphasized the plant materials and park elements incorporated into Highland Park’s design. A focal point and viewing feature of the surrounding area was located east of the reservoir on the high ground. As the park’s crowning feature, a three-story Children’s Pavilion was built to enhance the scenic views.

Highland Park is run by Monroe County, which manages, operates, and maintains the park. It is the mission of the Highland Park Conservancy, a nonpro t organization that advocates for, and participates in, the preservation, restoration, and enhancement of Highland Park and Lamberton Conservatory. e Highland Park is known for its world-class arboretum, historic Olmsted design, and other amenities, by ensuring the public appreciates and actively engages with its unparalleled beauty.

“Within two years, the Children’s Pavilion, which was something that was fundraised for by the Highland Park Conservancy, and funded through the government as well, it’s a real project right now; it’s in the design phase right now,” he says. “ e hope is that it won’t work much [di erently]. Our goal is [to] design it to look as similar as possible. e di erence is this one will have an elevator, so it will be handicap accessible. is one will hopefully have some maintenance improvements to it.”

Quinn explains that, “Parks are much busier places postpandemic … and I think you nd that throughout any park system, visitation has gone up a lot. If you look at Highland Park, in its initial design, the [objective] was to get people out of con ned city areas into the open air, and clearly, that’s what happened during the pandemic.”

As part of their mission, the Highland Park Conservancy conducts tours and runs special events, organizes a corps of volunteer gardeners who assist in park maintenance and beauti cation, communicate through print, video, and social media on topics of current, educational, and historic importance about the park.

Highland Park remains a cultural center for Rochester and the nation, and each day, the sta maintains that legacy. “One of the things I tend to tell people is we are a 365-day operation; it’s always a good day to visit the park. Always. ere’s always something in bloom in Highland Park, and it’s always a good time to go,” Quinn says. “It’s outdoors, we have beautiful horticulture; it’s a peaceful and pleasant place to spend time.”

For more information on the Conservancy and Highland Park, visit highlandparkconservancy.org.

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