Lecture and tour on Warren Manning, designer of Wilcox Park in Westerly

Warren Manning, Architect of Wilcox Park in Westerly, RI

Topic of program at Westerly Library

Join award winning landscape historian and architect Martha
Lyon on Friday, July 11 at 7:30 in the Auditorium at Westerly Library for a
fascinating presentation on Warren Manning, the landscape architect who created
the original design for Wilcox Park in Westerly Rhode Island.  Manning, who worked briefly with Frederick
Law Olmsted, is one of America’s most important landscape architects.  He designed at least eleven other projects in
throughout Rhode Island.

Lyon is managing principal, of Martha Lyon Landscape, LLC,
that specializes in design, historic preservation, and planning.  She is also one of the region’s foremost
landscape historians, and is contributing the chapter on the Library’s Wilcox
Park to the forthcoming three volume book on Manning being prepared by the
Library of American Landscape History.

Ms. Lyon will give an overview of Manning’s work, the
influences that affected his work, and the impact he had on cities and towns
across the country.  She will trace his
work for the Wilcox family in designing what is now known as Wilcox Park in
1898.  Following Ms. Lyon’s talk, there
will be a round-table discussion about Manning’s other work in Rhode Island. 

The next morning Saturday, July 12 at 10:30, Ms. Lyon and
Alan Peck, Park Superintendent of Wilcox Park, will co-lead a guided tour
through the park highlighting the design and the wonderful assortment of trees
that continue to make the park one of the finest urban parks in New England.

Wilcox Park and the Westerly Library are both owned and have
been operated by the same not-for-profit Association - the Memorial and Library
Association - since they were first established in the 19th
century.  The Association continues to
provide the broader community of Westerly. Stonington, and beyond with outstanding
library services and it maintains the Park in beautiful condition throughout
the year.

Manning was
interested in the intersection between landscape, urban planning, and a sense
of community, and Wilcox Park continues to serve the community in essentially
the way Manning had hoped it would. The Park is a beautiful outdoor space used
by residents of all ages. It is a center for civic pride; and one of the
cornerstones for our sense of place in the region. It is a thriving, busy,
beautiful, and welcoming place.

Throughout the weekend, Manning’s original 1898 drawings for Wilcox Park
will be on display in the Library’s Auditorium.  In subsequent weeks, tours of other Manning
projects throughout the region will be announced. 

For more information on the program, contact Daniel Snydacker, Interim Director, Westerly Library at dsnydacker@westerlylibrary.org,
or visit the Library’s website at www.westerlylibrary.org.