[
Description of the Park |
Features and Facilities |
Maps |
Upcoming Events ]
Park Description
Providing picnic facilities, nature trails, and children's play areas, Ault Park adds to its attractions with a splendid pavilion and lookout point and beautiful gardens. Ault is one of the city's premiere parks and is the site for such notable events as the Cincinnati Flower Show and community July 4th celebrations.
Ault Park is named in memory of Ida May Ault and Levi Addison Ault, her husband, a former Park Commissioner who was prominently active in Cincinnati Parks development. The initial 142-acre tract in 1911 and 9 subsequent acquisitions were gifts of the Aults to the City of Cincinnati. Two other fractional-acreage tracts were given by W.E. Harmon and Paul C. Kunkel and others. A bronze plaque of Levis Addison Ault, designed by the famous Cincinnati sculptor, Clement Barnhorn, was presented to the city by the Commercial Club, of which Mr. Ault had been a member. The plaque, in commemoration of Levi Addison Ault's pioneer park work and generosity, is affixed to a glacier boulder of rose granite on the terrace to the south of the pavilion.
The Ault Park Pavilion-the grandest of all Cincinnati's park buildings-was opened to the public on May 30, 1930. Designed by Fechheimer & Ihorst, the buildings Italian Renaissance-inspired architecture reflects the popularity of revival styles and the large budget available for public buildings during the 1920s. The surrounding terrace, cascade fountain, and formal gardens were designed by Albert D. Taylor, renowned landscape architect who also designed landscape plans for Alms and Mount Echo parks. The restoration of the pavilion, aided by the Ault Park Advisory Council and other civic groups, received an award from the Ohio Historical Society in 1992. The roof terrace offers a spectacular view.
The unusual formal garden was first designed by George Kessler. His early design was modified by A.D. Taylor (both were nationally known landscape architects). The Taylor design was the one eventually adopted and constructed. Early gardens consisted of basically annual flowers in the formal beds with perennials (peonies and iris) planted beneath and between the large pyramidal English oaks which flanked the central grass allee.
In 1980 the Park Board asked its Volunteer organization based at Krohn Conservatory if it would organize an Adopt-A-Plot garden at Ault. The challenge was accepted and the effort was successful. This concept soon won national recognition with the selection of the Adopt-A-Plot Garden for the first place trophy in the 1983 Daniel Flaherty Park Excellence Award competition presented by the Chicago Park District and the Great Lakes Park Institute.
In the fall of 1985 The Greater Cincinnati Tree Council dedicated its "Trees for Your Yard Arboretum" This tree grove planted around the entire perimeter of the formal garden provides the public with a collection of the currently recommended tree species for our area. The grove replaced the original flowering tree grove designed by AD Taylor, most of which had died.
The Smittie Memorial Concert Green, near the pavilion, was dedicated on June 14, 1987. George G. "Smittie" Smith, a music teacher at Withrow High School for 30 years, led his band at the traditional July 4 celebration. He had given park concerts for 50 years.
Ault Park is one of the best parks in the city to oserve the ancient geology of Cincinnati.
The Geology ofCincinnati is a document written by Dr. Stan Hedeen of Xavier University, and is a great way to experience an interactive hike through Ault Park.
The Park Board continues to work with the Ault Park Advisory Council (APAC), community groups and the Cincinnati Parks Foundation on park enhancements and program improvements, exemplified by the installation of the Principio Ave. playground.
Visiting Ault Park :
3600 Observatory Ave
Cincinnati , OH 45208
View Driving Directions
[
Description of the Park |
Features and Facilities |
Maps |
Upcoming Events ]
