美国 阿拉巴马州德拉诺公园 Delano Park – 标志性景观是 1934 年建成的历史玫瑰园

历史沿革

德拉诺公园（Delano Park）坐落在美国阿拉巴马州摩根县（Morgan County）的迪凯特市（Decatur）历史城区，是该县连续运营时间最长的市政公园。1887 年，迪凯特土地改良与炼铁公司（Decatur Land Improvement and Furnace Company）买下城南 5600 英亩土地，规划建设他们心目中的”南方芝加哥”，并邀请纽约知名景观设计师内森·富兰克林·巴雷特（Nathan Franklin Barrett，1845—1919）主持新城的总体设计。巴雷特早年因设计伊利诺伊州普尔曼镇（Pullman, Illinois）——美国第一座工业规划城镇——而享有盛名，也是美国景观建筑师协会（ASLA）的 11 位创始会员之一，并曾于 1903 年担任第三任主席。德拉诺公园正是他将英式自然布局与几何式规整空间融为一体的代表作：弯曲的园路和林荫环绕中央绿地，与当时新城方格网状的街道形成对照。1888 年黄热病疫情曾令部分早期建设者撤离，但公园所在的”新迪凯特”片区（1927 年并入迪凯特市，后改名奥尔巴尼）很快恢复发展。1934 年至 1938 年间，公园迎来第二阶段建设高潮：亚拉巴马州首批女性建筑师之一卡罗琳·科特纳·史密斯（Carolyn Cortner Smith，1894—1987）主持设计了园内的石构建筑、玫瑰园、儿童戏水区及乐队舞台，由公共工程管理局（CWA）和工程进度管理局（WPA）出资兴建。1941 年，公园正式以萨拉·安·德拉诺（Sara Ann Delano）的名字命名为”德拉诺公园”，以纪念时任美国总统富兰克林·德拉诺·罗斯福的母亲。2000 年，”德拉诺之友”（Friends of Delano Park）成立，与迪凯特市携手开启系统化保护与修复工作；该组织于 2010 年正式注册为 501(c)(3) 非营利机构，即今日的德拉诺公园保护协会（Delano Park Conservancy）。

园区布局与历史景观

公园占地 28 英亩，位于第 4 大道至萨默维尔路（Somerville Road）之间，是迪凯特老城区最大的公共绿地。从空中俯瞰，公园由一条长约 1 英里的环形步道串联起主要景点：北侧紧邻六大道（6th Avenue SE）的历史玫瑰园、中央偏西的露天音乐台（bandstand）和浴室（bathhouse）、东端的福特·迪凯特（Ft. Decatur）老建筑群以及女童子军小屋（Girl Scout Little House），外围分布着 4 个灯光网球场、2 个野餐凉亭、户外篮球场和福特·迪凯特休闲中心。沿东西向步道铺设有”德拉诺公园历史步径”（Trail of History），通过十余块解说牌讲述从 1887 年新城奠基、TVA 改造田纳西河到 2000 年保护协会成立的完整故事。园内大量古树来自早期的班克黑德国家森林（Bankhead National Forest）移植，林冠覆盖率较高，是 ArbNet 莫顿名册（Morton Register）认定的 30 英亩级一级认证树木园（Level I Accredited Arboretum）。公园东侧近年新建了河野乐园（Riverwild Playground）与戏水池（Riverwild Splashpad），南侧紧邻河野花园（Riverwild Garden），园中分布着多件阿拉巴马本地艺术家创作的青铜与钢结构雕塑，如弗兰克·弗莱明（Frank Fleming）的”巨龟”和布鲁斯·拉森（Bruce Larsen）的”巨龙蜻蜓”等。

玫瑰园与植物特色

德拉诺公园最具标志性的景观是 1934 年建成的历史玫瑰园（Historic Rose Garden），按 CWA 当年《迪凯特日报》1933 年 12 月 30 日的报道，园中种有”精选的 2000 株玫瑰”，搭配 3000 株唐菖蒲、紫薇以及从班克黑德国家森林移栽的乔木，形成层次分明的色彩序列。园内石墙、列柱和阶梯均由史密斯设计监督建造，墙体立面至今保留 WPA 时期的粗凿石工艺。2015 年起，田纳西景观设计师本·佩奇（Ben Page）受邀主持玫瑰园的长期修复工作，重点恢复历史种植床的几何结构与品种搭配，同时引入更耐热的现代栽培品种延长花期。公园植物收藏的方向是展示亚拉巴马本土植物以及田纳西河上游、马斯尔肖尔斯国家遗产区（Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area）的区域特色植物——这一使命由德拉诺公园保护协会通过其所属的德拉诺公园树木园（Delano Park Arboretum）推动，旨在把这座百年公园逐步建设为兼具历史保育和本土植物科普功能的活体展馆。

历史步径与艺术教育

历史步径串联的解说系统是公园公共教育最重要的载体。从”1887 年的芝加哥之南”主题段起，访客可以了解到戈登少校（Major E. C. Gordon）、C. C. 哈里斯上校（Colonel C. C. Harris）以及 W. W. 利特尔约翰（William Whitson Littlejohn）等新城奠基者的事迹，再到 TVA 改造田纳西河对当地防洪、航运和电力供应的影响，最终汇入 2000 年”德拉诺之友”成立以来的社区复兴故事。公园常年向公众免费开放，步道两侧新装的休息座椅、垃圾箱、标识和草坪由保护协会组织志愿者维护，协会还定期举办面向中小学生的自然课堂和园艺工作坊。雕塑与艺术教育是公园的另一个亮点：园内陈列弗兰克·弗莱明的青铜作品（”巨龟””牛蛙””沼泽兔””本的海狸”等）以及布鲁斯·拉森的大型钢构雕塑（”苍鹭大树之门””蜻蜓”），所有作品铭牌都标明艺术家、创作年份、材质和赞助方，让访客在散步的同时了解阿拉巴马当代公共艺术。

保护协会与游客服务

德拉诺公园保护协会自 2000 年成立以来，已累计在园内新植 200 余株乔木，并先后获得多项外部资助用于历史建筑修复与总体规划：2001 年亚拉巴马历史委员会（AHC）拨款 1 万美元用于全园总体规划，同年获 6000 美元用于支持国家史迹名录申报；2005 年获 EDI 资助 48600 美元用于园区升级，Junior League 同期宣布将园内儿童游乐与花园项目作为其重点公益项目。协会合作伙伴包括迪凯特市政府、亚拉巴马历史委员会、田纳西河下游流域保护组织以及迪凯特市历史保护委员会（Historic Preservation Commission），后者将公园纳入奥尔巴尼历史保护区（Albany Historic Overlay District）实施建筑与景观审查。公园每日对公众免费开放至夜灯关闭，配备 1 英里环形步道、4 个灯光网球场、野餐凉亭和带会议空间的福特·迪凯特休闲中心，是周边居民日常散步、运动、家庭聚会和参观历史景观的主要公共空间。

History

Delano Park sits in the historic core of Decatur, Morgan County, Alabama, and is the oldest city park in continuous operation in the county. In 1887 the Decatur Land Improvement and Furnace Company purchased 5,600 acres south of town to build a planned community it called the “Chicago of the South,” and engaged New York landscape architect Nathan Franklin Barrett (1845–1919) to lay out both the new town and its central park. Barrett had already gained national recognition for designing Pullman, Illinois, the country’s first planned industrial town, and was one of the eleven charter members of the American Society of Landscape Architects (serving as its third president in 1903). His plan for Delano Park contrasted the curving, naturalistic green space with the surrounding Jeffersonian street grid. A yellow fever outbreak in 1888 disrupted the original developers, but the neighborhood—then called New Decatur and later Albany—recovered and was annexed into Decatur in 1927. Between 1933 and 1938 Carolyn Cortner Smith (1894–1987), one of Alabama’s first licensed female architects, designed the park’s stone structures, the historic rose garden, and the children’s wading area for crews funded by the Civil Works Administration and the Works Progress Administration. The park was formally dedicated as Delano Park in 1941, in memory of Sara Ann Delano, mother of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In 2000 the Friends of Delano Park formed to partner with the City of Decatur on a long-term restoration; the group incorporated as the Delano Park Conservancy, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, in 2010.

Landscape and Layout

The 28-acre park runs east–west between 4th Avenue and Somerville Road in downtown Decatur. A measured one-mile loop trail links the historic bandstand, bathhouse, and Girl Scout Little House in the western half with Fort Decatur and the Riverwild Garden at the eastern end. Park assets include four lighted tennis courts, two picnic pavilions, an outdoor basketball court, and the Fort Decatur Recreation Center (with an indoor court and a meeting room). The Trail of History, a pedestrian sidewalk with interpretive signage, weaves through the park and tells the story of the 1887 founding, the TVA transformation of the Tennessee River, and the 2000 founding of the Conservancy. Mature legacy trees transplanted from Bankhead National Forest form a continuous canopy, supporting Delano Park Arboretum’s recognition as a Level I Accredited Arboretum on the ArbNet Morton Register. Recent additions include the Riverwild Playground, the Riverwild Splashpad, and a sculpture walk featuring Alabama artists Frank Fleming (bronze animals from the Tennessee River watershed) and Bruce Larsen (large-scale steel works such as the Heron Great Tree Gateway and the Dragonfly).

Historic Rose Garden and Plant Collections

The Historic Rose Garden, built in 1934 by CWA work crews under Carolyn Cortner Smith’s direction, remains the park’s signature feature. A Decatur Daily article of December 30, 1933 reported “approximately 140 men, both skilled and unskilled” working on the project, with the rose garden planted with 2,000 selected roses, 3,000 gladioli, crape myrtles, and trees relocated from Bankhead National Forest. Smith also designed the rose garden’s stone walls, columns, and stairs, which survive as WPA-era craftsmanship. Tennessee landscape architect Ben Page has led the garden’s long-term restoration since 2015, working to recover the original geometric planting plan while introducing modern heat-tolerant cultivars to extend the bloom season. The Delano Park Arboretum’s broader mission is to feature Alabama’s native plants and the unique flora of the Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area along the Tennessee River, making the historic park a living museum of regional horticulture as well as a designed landscape.

Trail of History and Public Education

The Trail of History interprets Delano Park’s founding story for visitors of all ages. Its first interpretive segment covers the 1887 founding of New Decatur by Major Eugene C. Gordon, Colonel C. C. Harris, and William W. Littlejohn, and the company’s ambition to build the “Chicago of the South.” Later segments address the impact of TVA flood control, navigation, and rural electrification projects on daily life in Decatur, and the role of Barrett Shelton Sr. and other civic leaders in the post-war decades. The Conservancy hosts regular school programs and horticulture workshops, and partners with the City of Decatur Historic Preservation Commission on public interpretation. Sculpture is integrated into the education program: works such as Fleming’s The Big Turtle, Mr. Bullfrog, Swamp Rabbit, and Ben’s Beaver, and Larsen’s Heron Great Tree Gateway and Dragonfly each carry a plaque listing the artist, year, medium, and sponsor, giving visitors an accessible introduction to contemporary Alabama public art.

Conservancy and Visitor Services

Since 2000 the Delano Park Conservancy has planted more than 200 new trees, restored historic stone structures, the rose garden, signage, walkways, and children’s facilities, and produced a long-range master plan for the park. Major grants have come from the Alabama Historical Commission (a $10,000 master-plan grant and a $6,000 National Register listing grant in 2001), EDI ($48,600 in 2005), and the Junior League of Decatur, alongside ongoing individual, corporate, and foundation support. The Conservancy works in formal partnership with the City of Decatur and the city’s Historic Preservation Commission, and the park falls within the Albany Historic Overlay District, which subjects future landscape and structural changes to design review. Delano Park is free and open to the public every day, with the one-mile walking loop, four lighted tennis courts, picnic pavilions, and the Fort Decatur Recreation Center available for general use, civic events, and family gatherings.

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