Arthur Shurcliff

Arthur Shurcliff. Historic Wilcox Park. , Arthur Shurcliff , Arthur A. Shurcliff, or Shurtleff, was born in 1870. Like Warren H. Manning, the original Park landscape architect, Shurcliff also started his professional career in the Olmstead Landscape Architecture Offices. In 1899, Shurcliff assisted Fredrick Law Olmstead, Jr., in founding the country's first four-year landscape program at Harvard University, where he taught until 1906., In 1924, Shurcliff designed the Esplanade. The design aligned the new Town Hall with the main path of the Esplanade. It included two symmetrical halves, a bluestone-paved walk, and the granite balustrade and staircase. In 1929, he designed the Memorial Fountain's granite basin as well as the bluestone paving that surrounds the fountain. In 1937, Shurcliff designed the War Memorial., Stonework Designs , Shurcliff's design of the Fountain included granite benches showcasing elegant lyre-shaped pedestals mimicking the curves of the fountain basin and the nearby balustrade. This original design surfaced during the Park's Master Plan in 2005 and the four benches were created and installed.