Editing Central Park (section)

==== Design contest ====
In June 1856, Fernando Wood appointed a "consulting board" of seven people, headed by author [[Washington Irving]], to inspire public confidence in the proposed development.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=96–97}}{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|p=18}} Wood hired military engineer [[Egbert Ludovicus Viele]] as the park's chief engineer, tasking him with a topographical survey of the site.{{sfn|Berman|2003|p=21}}{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=100–101}}<ref>{{cite news|url=https://bklyn.newspapers.com/clip/23560870/|title=General Egbert E. Viele|date=April 23, 1902|work=[[Brooklyn Daily Eagle]]|access-date=March 30, 2019|page=3|via=Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com}}</ref> The following April, the state legislature passed a bill to authorize the appointment of four [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] and seven [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] commissioners,{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=96–97}}{{sfn|Berman|2003|p=20}} who had exclusive control over the planning and construction process.{{sfn|New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|1858|loc=PDF pp. 8–12}}<ref name="NYS-1911"/><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1860/03/13/archives/the-central-park-report-of-the-commissioners-of-the-central-park-in.html |title=The Central Park; Report of the Commissioners of the Central Park in Reply to the Inquiries of the State Senate|date=March 13, 1860|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 4, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404170137/https://www.nytimes.com/1860/03/13/archives/the-central-park-report-of-the-commissioners-of-the-central-park-in.html|archive-date=April 4, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Though Viele had already devised a plan for the park,{{sfn|Heckscher|2008|p=18}} the commissioners disregarded it and retained him to complete only the topographical surveys.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=102–103}}{{sfn|Heckscher|2008|p=20}} The Central Park Commission began hosting a landscape design contest shortly after its creation.{{sfn|Heckscher|2008|p=20}}{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=24–25}}{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=111–112}} The commission specified that each entry contain extremely detailed specifications, as mandated by the consulting board.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=111–112}}{{sfn|Heckscher|2008|p=21}}{{sfn|New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|1858|loc=PDF pp. 29–30}} Thirty-three firms or organizations submitted plans.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=111–112}}{{sfn|Heckscher|2008|p=21}}

In April 1858, the park commissioners selected [[Frederick Law Olmsted]] and [[Calvert Vaux]]'s "Greensward Plan" as the winning design.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1858/04/30/archives/the-central-park-plans.html |title=The Central Park Plans|date=April 30, 1858|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 1, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401013252/https://www.nytimes.com/1858/04/30/archives/the-central-park-plans.html|archive-date=April 1, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=117–120}}{{sfn|Heckscher|2008|pp=23–24}} Three other plans were designated as runners-up and featured in a city exhibit.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=117–120}}<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1858/05/13/archives/the-central-park-exhibition-of-the-unsuccessful-plans-for-the.html |title=The Central Park; Exhibition of the Unsuccessful Plans for the Central Park|date=May 13, 1858|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 1, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401013254/https://www.nytimes.com/1858/05/13/archives/the-central-park-exhibition-of-the-unsuccessful-plans-for-the.html|archive-date=April 1, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Unlike many of the other designs, which effectively integrated Central Park with the surrounding city, Olmsted and Vaux's proposal introduced clear separations with sunken transverse roadways.<ref name="Reynolds p. 321">{{harvnb|Reynolds|1994|ps=.|p=321}}</ref>{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=130–135}} The plan eschewed symmetry, instead opting for a more picturesque design.<ref name="Reynolds p. 321" />{{sfn|Scobey|2002|p=20}} It was influenced by the pastoral ideals of landscaped cemeteries such as [[Mount Auburn Cemetery|Mount Auburn]] in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], and [[Green-Wood Cemetery|Green-Wood]] in Brooklyn.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=130–135}}{{sfn|Taylor|2009|p=266}} The design was also inspired by Olmsted's 1850 visit to [[Birkenhead Park]] in [[Birkenhead]], England,{{sfn|Olmsted|1852|p=83}} which is generally acknowledged as the first publicly funded civil park in the world.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wirral.gov.uk/LGCL/100006/200073/670/content_0001110.html |title=The History of Birkenhead Park |work=Metropolitan Borough of Wirral |access-date=March 26, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080626164507/http://www.wirral.gov.uk/LGCL/100006/200073/670/content_0001110.html |archive-date=June 26, 2008 }}</ref>{{sfn|Brocklebank|2003|pp=32–33}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Foderaro|first=Lisa W.|date=October 30, 2019|title=The Parks That Made the Man Who Made Central Park|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/30/travel/footsteps-frederick-law-olmsted-parks.html|access-date=August 29, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> According to Olmsted, the park was "of great importance as the first real Park made in this country—a democratic development of the highest significance".{{sfn|Scobey|2002|p=20}}{{sfn|Taylor|2009|pp=267–268}}

{{Wide image|1868 Vaux ^ Olmsted Map of Central Park, New York City - Geographicus - CentralPark-CentralPark-1869.jpg|800px|alt=Greensward's Plan|The modified Greensward Plan for the park from 1868|align-cap=center}}