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About The Hood River news. (Hood River, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (May 20, 2015)
Wednesday, May 20, 2015 B1 Far and Near ROSE-FILLED west planting area and Rotary pergola, at Smith Gardens’ peak of care in 2007. New fundraising will provide for upgraded planting areas and new vegetation. In current photo below, the walkways, benches, pergola and sweeping green lawns that comprise the largest park in down- town Hood River. Photo by Jim Haun This spring and summer, Hood River News’ Kaleido- scope will feature places in our own backyard and all around the world, along with the general array of B1 topics Readers will see two recur- ring themes as articles will regularly touch on topics at home and abroad, starting with this week’s retrospective on Georgianna Smith Gardens. Look for: ■ Near — locales in the Gorge such as Jackson Park in Hood River and Mt. Hood Rail- road terminus in Parkdale, and; ■ Far — places as disparate as Finland and Borneo, as we begin a new rotation of “Trav- elogues” written by local resi- dents. Photo by Kirby Neumann-Rea The Downtown 10 years after its expansion . . . Georgiana Smith Gardens undergoes more changes In 2005, two years after the successful expansion of the Hood River County Library, the grounds surrounding the Jacobethan-style library building were completely renovated. The adjoining lot to the west was generously donat- ed to the Library Founda- tion by the Stoltz family of Hood River. That vacant sloping lot at Sixth and State Street, separated from the li- brary by trees and tall shrubs, was merged with the original park during con- struction. Marion McNew, of Mount Hood Gardens, creat- ed the design for the new Georgiana Smith Memorial Gardens, named for the 19th century benefactor who started the first Hood River library in her home, and whose family donated the land for the 1913 Carnegie Library. (The building was expanded in 2002 after a community fund-raising drive.) The late Virginia Hosford, long-time Foundation presi- dent, was instrumental in the development of the park, as was June Knutson, the previous library director, now retired. The preferred way people traversed the grounds deter- mined the layout of the cur- rent paths. Installation was completed by Hood River County Public Works and Mount Hood Gardens, along Photos courtesy of Marion McNew, 2004-07 with copious in-kind work and generous donations. (Master Gardeners regular- ly tend the xeriscape beds on the State Street side in front of the library.) The gardens connects State and Oak Streets, and provides pedestrian access to Sixth Street via a curving pathway lined with benches and commemorative bricks, sold by the Foundation as a gardens fundraiser. T hree dif ferent patio MAY 2015, looking west across Smith Gardens. Compare the same view to the 2004 photo at lower left. Lower right, also in 2004, view west from Sixth Street; note the line of trees and shrubs that had separated the property from the main park. spaces create separate out- door rooms, and all are handicap-accessible. They allow for sitting, eating, or sta ging small musical events. Benches along the natural rock wall entice vis- itors to sit and relax, and offer stunning views of the Columbia River Gorge. The patio at the Sixth Street end features a pergola and other improvements donated by the Hood River Rotary Club in 2005. In 2014, McNew oversaw new plantings just up the hillside from the Rotary patio, after trees were re- moved that had grown into view-blockers at Stoltz Win- ery, overlooking the west end of the park. An intriguing feature of the gardens is “stone-ifer- ous pine,” a 12-foot conical sculpture built in 2006 by a national group of stonema- sons who were conferring in Hood River at the time. A new phase for the gar- dens is in the planning with the Hood River Library Foundation, which funds the maintenance and up- grades. (The March 7 Feast of Words this year raised about $30,000 for the near- See GARDENS, Page B2
