Jesse Horning

Renderings of what the historic Genesee Valley Park Olmsted Brothers bridges could look like if restored.

Rochester has a strong connection to the work of the father of landscape architecture, Frederick Law Olmsted. Over 100 years later, much of his legacy is enjoyed by thousands of residents of Rochester’s 19th Ward community, of which I am a part of. My husband and I frequent Genesee Valley Park with our dogs and I am often in awe that many of the trees have stood there since Olmsted designed the park. After his time, Olmsted’s firm returned to the park to create bridge connections across the Erie Canal to a donated extension of the park.

These bridges are a critical component in the park both aesthetically and practically as routes of circulation yet they are in horrible condition. Left for decades to decay with little repairs made, the bridges have languished and presumably would have continued to until they were condemned were it not for the efforts of the Rochester Olmsted Parks Alliance. I became aware of their efforts and offered to provide visuals that could be a powerful tool to communicate the lasting beauty and potential these bridges have were they to be restored.

“Rochester’s Olmsted Parks Alliance promotes Olmsted’s legacy. They educate and engage the public to make the shared landscape heritage more visible, accessible, to communicate its value, and empower its stewards.” Learn more about R.O.P.A.’s efforts here.

“This landscape is part of the Rochester Park System designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr., between 1881 and 1912. Olmsted chose the 543-acre site, divided by the Genesee River, for its natural incorporation of water with wooded, rolling terrain…. . A donation of 120-acres expanded the park in 1908. When the park was divided north to south by the Erie Canal in 1918, Olmsted Brothers mitigated the disruption to the site by creating a bridge that reunited the landscape.” You can read more about the park at The Cultural Landscape Foundation’s website here.

R.O.P.A. is the primary force behind the restoration of these bridges and I hope these images inspire further action to save them. It has been a pleasure to combine my old skills of bridge construction with developing new software skills.

Workflow: Rhino 8 > Lumion > Photoshop

I measured all of the components of the concrete bridges (that I could reach) by hand which gave me the perfect excuse to buy a measuring wheel!