The Frank Newhall Look Memorial Park, commonly referred to as Look Park, is a privately run non-profit

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

in the village of

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence and Leeds) was 29,571. Northampton is known as an acade ...

in Hampshire County. The park is open year-round.

History

Look Park, consisting of about , was given to the City of Northampton from Mrs. Fannie Burr Look, wife of Frank Newhall Look. In 1928, she gave the city a farm valued at $60,000 and $450,000 for its development and trust fund for its upkeep. Before his death, Frank Newhall Look had been a resident of Northampton and served as the president of the Florence Manufacturing Company. The park was opened to the public in 1930. Operation and maintenance are dependent upon the trust fund, visitor fees, grants, and gifts. Owned by the city but operated as a non-profit organization, Look Park receives no funding from the city or state.

Amenities

The park features walking paths around its perimeter. A section of the Northampton bike path extends into the park. The Mill River runs through the park and small tributaries to it serve as a

duck pond A duck pond is a pond for ducks and other waterfowl. Duck ponds provide habitats for water fowl and other birds, who use the water to bathe in and drink. Typically, such ponds are round, oval or kidney-shaped. An example is the lily pond in th ...

. A gauge

miniature railway A ridable miniature railway (US: riding railroad or grand scale railroad) is a large scale, usually ground-level railway that hauls passengers using locomotives that are often models of full-sized railway locomotives (powered by diesel or petrol ...

operates on a track within the park, complete with a tunnel and boarding station. Attractions include a water park, tennis courts, several play structures, paddle boats, a

miniature golf Miniature golf, also known as minigolf, mini-putt, crazy golf, or putt-putt, is an offshoot of the sport of golf focusing solely on the putting aspect of its parent game. The aim of the game is to score the lowest number of points. It is played ...

course, as well as covered picnic areas and pavilions. Historic

covered bridges A covered bridge is a timber-truss bridge with a roof, decking, and siding, which in most covered bridges create an almost complete enclosure. The purpose of the covering is to protect the wooden structural members from the weather. Uncovered woo ...

cross the small streams that run through the park. The center of the park contains a playing field with several baseball and softball diamonds. The Look Park Steamer Train is a miniature train that runs on a 1-mile loop through the park. Rides last approximately 10 minutes. Every Christmas, the Look Park Steamer Train is transformed into Santa's Train and offers rides around the park to view lighted holiday decorations. The Northampton Recreation Department offers a camp for youth ages 5–12 during the summer, facilitated at Look Park. The Garden House, a banquet hall within the park allows for formal events, weddings, and the popular holiday event known as Santa's Trains at Look Park.

Christenson Natural Wildlife Center

The Christenson Natural Wildlife Center is on the grounds of Look Park. Its animals include

fallow deer ''Dama'' is a genus of deer in the subfamily Cervinae, commonly referred to as fallow deer. Name The name fallow is derived from the deer's pale brown colour. The Latin word ''dāma'' or ''damma'', used for roe deer, gazelles, and antelopes, ...

peacocks Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera '' Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female peafowl are refe ...

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

pygmy goat The American Pygmy is an American breed of achondroplastic goat. It is small, compact and stockily built. Like the Nigerian Dwarf, it derives from the West African Dwarf group of breeds of West Africa. Between 1930 and 1960, animals of this ty ...

s, and

barred owl The barred owl (''Strix varia''), also known as the northern barred owl, striped owl or, more informally, hoot owl, is a North American large species of owl. A member of the true owl family, Strigidae, they belong to the genus '' Strix'', whic ...

Pines Theater

The Pines Theater is an outdoor

amphitheater An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

located within the park. The stage is built out of

Goshen stone The land of Goshen is the Hebrew name of an area in the Nile delta in Ancient Egypt. Goshen may also refer to: Places United States Cities and towns * Goshen, Alabama * Goshen, Arkansas *Goshen, California *Goshen, Connecticut * Goshen, Georgia * ...

, along with the entryway and sound towers. The theater holds the annual "Transperformance" concert, a music festival hosted b
The Northampton Arts Council
and the Parent Teacher Organizations of the

Northampton Public Schools Northampton Public Schools is a school district in Northampton, Massachusetts. As of 2023, the superintendent is Portia Bonner. Schools High school * Northampton High School *: Principal: Bill Wehrli *: Associate Principal: Meghan Harrison ...

. Famous artists who have performed at the venue include

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

and

Crosby, Stills and Nash Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) were a folk rock supergroup made up of American singer-songwriters David Crosby and Stephen Stills and English singer-songwriter Graham Nash. When joined by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young as a fourth member, ...

. Concerts at the theater were in past years managed by th
Iron Horse Entertainment Group
prior to their opening of their own Mountain Park concert venue in 2009.

References

External links