Montebello Park
Montebello Park is a public park in downtown St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. It features a commemorative rose garden and an ornamental fountain. The focal point of the park is a historic band shell and pavilion used for festivals. The park and its pavilion are designated under the Ontario Heritage Act.
Early history
The City of St. Catharines purchased the site in 1887 for the city's first public park. The city commissioned Frederick Law Olmsted, who had created New York City's Central Park, to design the park. A pavilion was constructed on the foundation of the original Merritt estate in 1888. A covered circular bandstand modelled after the one built for the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, was constructed in the park by Edwin Nicholson. Dances were held upon the pavilion every Saturday night until the 1940s.In 1948, a case was heard in the Supreme Court of Canada, after the death of a child in Montebello Park after a structure collapsed on her during Victory over Japan Day celebrations. Two other children were injured. The judges decided that park management were negligent in their actions.