Wade Park (Cleveland park)
Encyclopedia
Wade Park is a park in the University Circle
neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio
. An idyllic swath of land in one of Cleveland's busiest neighborhoods, the park was built on land donated by Jeptha Wade
with the intention of using part of the property building for an art museum. It's most prominent feature is the Cleveland Museum of Art
and the adjacent Wade Park Lagoon. While not technically a historical landmark on its own, the park falls within the eponymous Wade Park historical district
and essentially serves the landscape for most of the buildings included in the registry entry.
Established on the land donated to the city by Jeptha Wade in 1882, Wade Park today largely serves as a museum campus for the Cleveland Museum of Art, as well as several other Cleveland cultural institutions. One of the most prominent features of the park -- and of University Circle -- is the Wade Lagoon. The lagoon is situated on the south end of Wade Park, in front of the museum. Bounded by East Boulevard on the west, Martin Luther King Jr. Drive on the east and Euclid Avenue on the south, the lagoon provides a tranquil retreat as well as a home for fish, which are mainly ornamental koi
.
The park also provides an outdoor gallery, with part of the museum's holdings being showcased in the Wade Park Fine Arts Garden. The bulk of this collection are located between the original 1916 main entrance to the building and the lagoon. Highlights of this sizable collection of public sculpture include the large cast of Rodin
's The Thinker
, which sits atop of the museums main staircase. The statue has a unique but troubled history. Partially destroyed in a 1970 bombing (allegedly by The Weathermen
), the statue has been left in its unrestored condition. The reasoning for not repairing it stems from the close involvement of Rodin in its original casting. Today, the damage—which is notated on the plaque mounted at the base of the statue's pedestal—has come to define the casting as unique among the more than twenty original large castings.
Other prominent sculptures in the garden include Chester Beach's 1927 Fountain of the Waters; a monument to the Polish expatriate and American Revolutionary War
-hero Tadeusz Kościuszko
; and the 1928 bronze statuary sundial by Frank Jirouch, Night Passing the Earth to Day, which sits across Wade Lagoon from the museum, near the park's entrance on Euclid Avenue. Oliver Hazard Perry
, the naval officer who led the American fleet at the Battle of Lake Erie
, is also honored with a statue adjacent the lagoon.
Wade Park divides two sections of the city's larger Rockefeller Park
: on its northwestern border along Martin Luther King Jr. Dr., and directly across University Circle to the southeast on Euclid Ave.
University Circle
University Circle, is a neighborhood located on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio. It is best known for its world-class cultural, educational and medical institutions, including the Cleveland Orchestra, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland Museum of Art, Lakeview Cemetery, and University...
neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
. An idyllic swath of land in one of Cleveland's busiest neighborhoods, the park was built on land donated by Jeptha Wade
Jeptha Wade
Jeptha Homer Wade was an American industrialist, philanthropist, and one of the founding members of Western Union Telegraph....
with the intention of using part of the property building for an art museum. It's most prominent feature is the Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland Museum of Art
The Cleveland Museum of Art is an art museum situated in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on Cleveland's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian art, the museum houses a diverse permanent collection of more than 43,000...
and the adjacent Wade Park Lagoon. While not technically a historical landmark on its own, the park falls within the eponymous Wade Park historical district
Wade Park District
The Wade Park District is an historic district on the National Register of Historic Places, located in the University Circle neighborhood on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio. The district, which covers roughly 650 acres, is bounded by Chester Avenue and Euclid Avenue on the south, East Boulevard...
and essentially serves the landscape for most of the buildings included in the registry entry.
Established on the land donated to the city by Jeptha Wade in 1882, Wade Park today largely serves as a museum campus for the Cleveland Museum of Art, as well as several other Cleveland cultural institutions. One of the most prominent features of the park -- and of University Circle -- is the Wade Lagoon. The lagoon is situated on the south end of Wade Park, in front of the museum. Bounded by East Boulevard on the west, Martin Luther King Jr. Drive on the east and Euclid Avenue on the south, the lagoon provides a tranquil retreat as well as a home for fish, which are mainly ornamental koi
Koi
or more specifically , are ornamental varieties of domesticated common carp that are kept for decorative purposes in outdoor koi ponds or water gardens....
.
The park also provides an outdoor gallery, with part of the museum's holdings being showcased in the Wade Park Fine Arts Garden. The bulk of this collection are located between the original 1916 main entrance to the building and the lagoon. Highlights of this sizable collection of public sculpture include the large cast of Rodin
Auguste Rodin
François-Auguste-René Rodin , known as Auguste Rodin , was a French sculptor. Although Rodin is generally considered the progenitor of modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past...
's The Thinker
The Thinker
The Thinker is a bronze and marble sculpture by Auguste Rodin, whose first cast, of 1902, is now in the Musée Rodin in Paris; there are some twenty other original castings as well as various other versions, studies, and posthumous castings. It depicts a man in sober meditation battling with a...
, which sits atop of the museums main staircase. The statue has a unique but troubled history. Partially destroyed in a 1970 bombing (allegedly by The Weathermen
Weatherman (organization)
Weatherman, known colloquially as the Weathermen and later the Weather Underground Organization , was an American radical left organization. It originated in 1969 as a faction of Students for a Democratic Society composed for the most part of the national office leadership of SDS and their...
), the statue has been left in its unrestored condition. The reasoning for not repairing it stems from the close involvement of Rodin in its original casting. Today, the damage—which is notated on the plaque mounted at the base of the statue's pedestal—has come to define the casting as unique among the more than twenty original large castings.
Other prominent sculptures in the garden include Chester Beach's 1927 Fountain of the Waters; a monument to the Polish expatriate and American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
-hero Tadeusz Kościuszko
Tadeusz Kosciuszko
Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko was a Polish–Lithuanian and American general and military leader during the Kościuszko Uprising. He is a national hero of Poland, Lithuania, the United States and Belarus...
; and the 1928 bronze statuary sundial by Frank Jirouch, Night Passing the Earth to Day, which sits across Wade Lagoon from the museum, near the park's entrance on Euclid Avenue. Oliver Hazard Perry
Oliver Hazard Perry
United States Navy Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry was born in South Kingstown, Rhode Island , the son of USN Captain Christopher Raymond Perry and Sarah Wallace Alexander, a direct descendant of William Wallace...
, the naval officer who led the American fleet at the Battle of Lake Erie
Battle of Lake Erie
The Battle of Lake Erie, sometimes called the Battle of Put-in-Bay, was fought on 10 September 1813, in Lake Erie off the coast of Ohio during the War of 1812. Nine vessels of the United States Navy defeated and captured six vessels of Great Britain's Royal Navy...
, is also honored with a statue adjacent the lagoon.
Wade Park divides two sections of the city's larger Rockefeller Park
Rockefeller Park
Rockefeller Park is a city park named in honor of oil magnate John D. Rockefeller Sr., located in Cleveland, Ohio. Part of the Cleveland Public Parks District, Rockefeller Park is immediately adjacent Wade Park on its the southeastern, and across Euclid Ave on its northwestern border...
: on its northwestern border along Martin Luther King Jr. Dr., and directly across University Circle to the southeast on Euclid Ave.
Attractions
- The Cleveland Museum of Art - Located at the southern entrance of the park along Euclid Avenue, the museum sits behind Wade Lagoon.
- The Cleveland Museum of Natural HistoryCleveland Museum of Natural HistoryThe Cleveland Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum located approximately five miles east of downtown Cleveland, Ohio in University Circle, a 550-acre concentration of educational, cultural and medical institutions...
- Located in the northwestern corner of the park - Cleveland Botanical GardenCleveland Botanical GardenCleveland Botanical Garden, located in the University Circle neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States, was founded in 1930 as the Garden Center of Greater Cleveland. It was the first such organization in an American city...
- Founded in 1930 as the Garden Center of Greater Cleveland, the garden, which underwent an extensive makeover in 2003, is situated on East Boulevard in the northeastern portion of the park.