Moore-Turner Heritage Gardens
Planning & Restoration
The Moore-Turner Heritage Gardens were rediscovered following the 1996 ice storm cleanup. The storm destroyed trees along Seventh Avenue and a grove of young maples on the hillside in Edwidge Woldson Park.
For decades hikers and students who walked to and from Lewis and Clark High School were familiar with the trails and stone staircases traversing the southern hillside in Edwidge Woldson Park. Few were aware their routes were actually features of an elaborate, designed landscape. The 1997 cleanup removed damaged trees and shrubs that had blocked access and protected prominent garden features. Hidden in the grove of Norway maples and thick underbrush was the perennial garden – the basalt terraces, a reflection pool basin, and twin staircases were once the center of an estate garden.
Spokane Parks and Recreation Department staff identified the central features in 1998 and began an extensive research process to determine the historic significance of the site. City records noted the property was once owned by prominent pioneers in the community – Frank Rockwood Moore and U.S. Senator George Turner. Photographs found in Mrs. Turner’s scrapbooks at the Washington State University archives, a site plan, letters, and a series of newspaper articles were recovered verifying the historic and cultural significance of the landscape.
To research, plan, and restore the Gardens was a nine year process. Mrs. Turner’s black and white and hand-colored photographs provided vivid details of the Gardens between 1911 and 1916. Several feature articles showcased the Turner’s newly-redesigned garden in 1911. A 1946 site plan recorded the original locations of the garden structures, staircases, and trails. All of these valuable documents along with the remaining trails, staircases, and site ruins were used to draft a master plan.
The master plan approval process was a year-long series of community meetings, neighborhood council presentations, and sessions with adjacent neighbors and businesses to increase public awareness of the site, distribute historic information, and gain support for the restoration. The master plan was presented to the Spokane Landmarks Commission and approved by the Park Board in 2000.
The planning process continued over the next four years. Initially a treatment plan was selected to preserve and restore the site based on the accumulated research and the existing site features. The Gardens were placed on the Spokane Historic Register as the first cultural landscape listing and the Washington Heritage Register to preserve and protect the site. The Heritage Gardens legacy book was published incorporating the collection of research materials and an extensive bibliography to protect the valuable resources. Through grants and donations, funds were raised to develop a cultural landscape report based on the National Park Service Preservation Brief #36. The report outlined a plan to stabilize, preserve, and restore the Moore-Turner Heritage Gardens.
Restoration work began in April 2005 to rescue the north rose arbor staircase from collapsing. With grants from the Washington State Heritage Capital Projects Fund, the Spokane Parks Foundation, the Spokane Preservation Advocates, and numerous donations, the north and south arbor staircases were restored and the perennial garden basalt staircases and central retaining wall were repaired. In December, Myrtle Woldson came forward with funding to complete the restoration in honor of her mother Edwidge Woldson.
Design and construction plans were completed in 2006 to restore the Gardens based on the visual documentation of the site between 1911 and 1914. Site work began in February 2006 to remove vegetation and debris threatening the historic integrity of the original basalt dry stack retaining walls, mortared stone staircases, concrete pool basins, and rock foundations.
Invasive trees and shrubs were removed from the perennial garden and the historic lilac grove. Assumed a planned back-drop for the perennial garden, the lilacs are the largest collection of historic plant material surviving on the site.
Once the cleanup was completed, the next seven months were dedicated to recovering and stabilizing the historic stone work. The original carriage road and adjoining basalt retaining wall were found intact after removing nearly 1,000 cubic yards of soil. The road was assumed buried in the early 1960’s when soil was hauled to the site from the adjacent Stevens street extension project.
Three staircases were found damaged during the excavation and reconstructed. During the stabilization the subsoil was prepared in the planting beds, the 1931 pedestrian staircase reestablished (renamed the “Tiger Trail”), and a wrought iron perimeter fence and irrigation system installed. The planting plan was developed. The final design and construction plans were completed and approved by the Spokane Landmarks Commission in July 2006.
The pergola, arbor, and tea house structures were reconstructed in their original locations in 2007 based on the historic footings found on the site – Mrs. Turner’s historic photographs and images in period newspaper articles guided the reconstruction.
The pond, waterfall, and reflection pool water features were restored and the planting plan implemented before opening to the public in mid-August. The restoration included adding garden amenities and an interpretive sign program to enhance visits to the site.
The final phase of the restoration was to document the plant list and complete an as-built planting plan incorporating the restoration and historic plants within the 2005-2007 restoration boundaries. A site inventory was taken of the historic plant materials in areas outside of the restoration boundaries including the large woodland to the west of the Heritage Gardens restoration. This area is noted on the 1946 site plan; however, insufficient documentation and funding precludes restoration. These staircases, trails, and historic plants await rediscovery.
