From the very first report of the Board of Park and Boulevard Commissioners in 1898, it was clearly evident that Cliff Drive would not only be the focal point of North Terrace Park, but of the entire system.
Cliff drive was one of the first features to be constructed in North Terrace Park. By 1905, there were three and one half miles of drive. The majority of expenditures were related to the road, either for grading, retaining walls, lamps, etc.
In 1909 a westward addition was completed connecting the drive to Maple Boulevard . By 1910, a wall was constructed extending easterly from a well known and much used spring in order to retain the bluff in position above the spring. A classical scallop shell fountain had already been installed at the spring by 1906 which provided cold, refreshing drink for park visitors year round. However, by the 1962, the drinking water was declared unsafe and the fountain shell walled over. In 1993 an ornamental fountain with water cascading down the natural cliff face of the bluff was constructed at the spring site. The fountain, named after former Park and Recreation Commissioner Carl J. DiCapo, is partially fed by the still active spring.
For much of Cliff Drive macadam pavement was constructed and an extensive drainage system was provided for storm water runoff. Heavy grading was required for most of the drive's construction, as well as considerable rock excavation. Work proceeded slowly, but surely under Kessler's careful guidance. By 1915 work on the existing Cliff Drive was essentially completed. Although extensions Kessler felt were necessary were never completed, it in no way diminishes the integrity of Cliff Drive today, as what was constructed serves as a finished unit. The eastward extension planned by Kessler was proposed to pass through an extremely narrow and steep portion of the buff connecting the drive with Gladstone Boulevard and Belmont Boulevard at Indian Mound. With rising labor costs, it undoubtedly would have been an extravagant expenditure considering that Gladstone Boulevard today serves in very nearly the same capacity as the proposed extension.
Cliff Drive is one of George Kessler's masterpieces, and is deservedly acknowledged as'' the drive that made Kansas City's park and boulevard system famous". Nearly all historic reports, accounts and promotional brochures of Kansas City from this era refer to Cliff Drive when speaking of the park system. The 1908 annual of the Business Men's League, for example calls Cliff Drive the "piece de resistance" and the "chef d'ouvre" of the entire park and boulevard system. Their claim that it was "famous from one end of the country to be other" was fairly accurate. |
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