'IT HAS AN APPEAL TO EVERYONE'

John C. Thompson had visions of grandeur for the wind-whipped hills that lined the city of Watertown's eastern border.

The Schenectady native, who founded New York Air Brake Co., tapped the resources of a widely known Boston architectural firm to mold that undeveloped farmland overlooking the city known as "the Pinnacle" into a premiere park.

When John C. Olmsted took pen to paper to design Thompson Park at the turn of the 20th century, the firm's plans included a 500-acre spectacle that incorporated overlooks and trails etched into the land, along with man-made ponds, pavilions and viewing towers.

"He definitely wanted to make a destination out of the park," said Kenneth A. Mix, city planning and community development coordinator.

However, many of those designs, including a viewing platform on top of the original water tower, remain unrealized today.

Nearly all of the plans for Thompson Park are in the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site in Brookline, Mass., but one large overview of the park is in the city's hands.

There are still no plans to build Thompson Park to the extent that John Olmsted, nephew and adopted son of Frederick Law Olmsted, had dreamed.

In 1900, Mr. Thompson instructed his friend, Henry D. Goodale, to scoop up the first parcel of farmland south of State Street for a park. He later hired the firm that gained notoriety from its founder, Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed Central Park in New York City.

"Olmsted wanted to give urban dwellers the opportunity to get back to the country without having to travel 30 or 40 miles," said City Judge James C. Harberson, who has researched the Olmsted firm and the influences incorporated in its designs.

"The natural, dense foliage blocked the sights and sounds of the city," Mr. Harberson said. "That's a theme with a lot of his parks."

The water tower overlook, the most extravagant aspect of the Thompson Park plans, would have allowed sightseers to view miles of countryside in every direction.

Mr. Olmsted envisioned eight stone columns surrounding the water tower holding an octagonal platform that could be accessed by a spiral staircase.

"It's probably the most unique aspect that was never constructed," Mr. Mix said.

The original water tower was replaced in 1978; city officials flirted with constructing the viewing platform atop the current 111-foot tower.

Thompson Park began as a dream; $1 million later, it became the most prominent source of recreation in Jefferson County.

Work at the park began in 1900 and ended about a decade later. Mr. Mix said the project was budgeted at about $75,000 to $100,000 annually.

"I've seen correspondence that he said he was going over budget and looking for funds," Mr. Mix said.

On Aug. 10, 1901, the Watertown Daily Times published an account of the work being completed:

"A stone balustrade is being erected about the crest of the Pinnacle, and is barely completed. Stone steps are being laid up the steep slope of that famous hump of ground, and the macadam driveways that are being constructed will approach and gain it at an easy grade."

"The children's wading pool has been completed and has been tested satisfactorily, having held water without leakage ... ."

Mr. Olmsted's view was becoming a reality.

The article notes that "on every pleasant Sunday, it seems as if half the town had turned out to roam through the tract ... ."

More than a century later, crowds are still drawn to the park's summit.

"Thompson Park is a jewel owned by the city that can be used by everyone, whether they're a child playing at the playground, or a couple enjoying the sunset over the city," City Historian Donna M. Dutton said. "It has an appeal to everyone in the area."

Acting on behalf of Mr. Thompson, George C. and Alice T. Sherman deeded the first 191 acres of parkland to the city in 1917. Mr. Thompson's philanthropy was kept a secret, at his request, until his death in 1924 at age 79.

Other parcels were donated in the 1930s and 1940s, creating the park at its current size. The park never expanded to the 500 acres Mr. Olmsted envisioned. It occupies 355 acres and forms a portion of the city's eastern border.

Both the New York State Zoo at Thompson Park and Watertown Golf Club were not a part of Mr. Olmsted's original plans, though both are large draws for the park.

The zoo was created in 1920, after a group of Rotarians decided that the park would be a natural location for a zoo. Bucko, a Canadian black bear, was the first animal housed at the fledgling zoo. He was joined later by a monkey and two alligators, two owls, foxes, skunks and porcupines.

The Park Zoo Club, founded by 12-year-old Rollin J. Fairbanks, son of the Rev. George Fairbanks, raised funds throughout the 1920s for the zoo.

The 66-acre golf course has remained open each summer since 1924 and incorporates the rolling hills to challenge golfers.

"All of Olmsted's parks provided urban dwellers a place to get out of the urban development," Judge Harberson said. "It was seen as being good for their health and they could go someplace close to walk around and not have to worry about things like streetcars and trash."

Mr. Olmsted's plans weren't limited to the park. Maps show large subdivisions to be sold north of Park Circle and west of Gotham Street.

The Gotham Street subdivision spans all the way to Washington Street, where the Watertown City School District campus is now.

"It's no secret that property values increase near parks," Mr. Mix said. "He certainly wanted to fully develop those areas."

Other plans along the park's western edge were never developed. Goose Pond, near Gotham Street, was planned to be a fixture where park-goers could rent small boats. It is now an overgrown area away from the public's view.

Roads that would have led residents past the pond were never built. If paved today, they would traverse the golf course and cut through the clubhouse, Mr. Mix said.

"A lot of these ponds and open spaces are typical with Olmsted designs," he said.

Of the three "downs," or open fields, planned at the park, only two were cleared. The city draws thousands of people at its annual Independence Day celebration on the north down.

The stone recreation pavilion used for picnics originally was intended to house horses. A roof was added in 1932.

A trolley station at Park Circle and a small stone tenant house at the Franklin Street entrance were never built.

Once the park was deeded to the city, stone pillars that line Gotham Street were built during the 1930s.

"It was a works project during the Depression that gave people jobs," Mr. Mix said.

The city closed Park Circle during the winter and turned the feature into an ice rink. Judge Harberson said he has fond memories of skating around that road as a child.

"You could stay and skate all day and there was a little warming shack," he said. "The entranceway and circle to slow cars is typical of an Olmsted park."

That shack burned to the ground in 1969.

The city spent about $2 million on the park in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The cost included work on zoo buildings, repointing all of the stone buildings, walls and stairs, paving 4.5 miles of sidewalks and upgrading the restrooms and a Department of Public Works garage.

"It's a treat to have a park of that size in this city," Mrs. Dutton said.

While the Thompson Park Conservancy directs the zoo, the city maintains the remainder of the park.

After his death, a letter penned by Mr. Thompson was found that addressed his anonymous philanthropy.

A portion of it read: "The future alone can determine whether I have done wisely or otherwise, but at least it may be said 'he did what he could.'"

Olmsted firm designed other notable projects

Frederick Law Olmsted's architectural firm was hired to design Watertown's Thompson Park. Here's a list of other notable jobs his firm landed:

■ Central Park: In 1857, Mr. Olmsted was chosen to design the park, the largest on the island of Manhattan. The park took 16 years to complete and now draws 25 million visitors annually. It contains several man-made lakes and ponds, trails, two ice-skating rinks, the Central Park Zoo, a wildlife sanctuary and a large wooded area. Mr. Olmsted also designed Prospect Park in Brooklyn.

■ U.S. Capitol grounds: In 1873, the firm was asked by the Senate Committee in Buildings and Grounds to design a 46-acre park to complement the building. Marble terraces adorned the north, west and south sides of the building, while stone paths were dressed up with ornamental iron trellises.

■ Belle Isle: The Michigan park is considered the largest island park in the country and was designed in the 1880s. The 982-acre design includes a botanical garden and the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory.

■ Biltmore Estate: The estate in Asheville, N.C., was built for Washington Vanderbilt, the youngest son of William H. Vanderbilt, as a summer estate. Mr. Olmsted designed the grounds, including the three-mile approach road.

Mr. Olmsted retired from the firm in 1895 and died Aug. 28, 1903, in Belmont, Mass. His sons, John C. Olmsted and Frederick L. Olmsted Jr., continued work until 1950.