In 1830, the area encompassed by Frear Park, which held the two bodies of water now known as Bradley and Wright Lakes, was involved with the city’s water supply. As the amount of water needed increased, several reservoirs were constructed and the water supply was transitioned away from this area. “ … the land is tolerably well wooded, the views from its elevations are magnificent, embracing in their broad sweep the valley of the Hudson for many miles both north and south, and in the far distance the Catskills and the Adirondacks.” - A description of the site in 1889 Frear Park: A Gift to the People of Troy In the early 1890s a campaign to create parkland at the waterworks site was initiated. The city of Troy appointed a parks commission to identify prospective sites for public parks. Authority to covert the waterworks property to parkland was granted by the New York State legislature in 1892. In 1917 the project gained impetus with the donation of twenty-two acres from the William Henry Frear estate by members of the Frear family. Together with the waterworks site, the two parcels comprised a tract of 112 acres. The Frear family gift came with four provisos:    •  The parcel of land be forever dedicated to public use, and be named “Frear Park.”    •  A street extending from Oakwood Avenue to Lake Avenue be laid out, maintained and named Frear Avenue.    •  The fountain that formed part of the Frear estate be preserved.    •  The Frear family be allowed to construct a gateway or memorial structure at the intersection of Frear Avenue and 15th Street. These provisions were agreed to at a Common Council meeting in June of 1917. Additional land was deeded to the city by the Frear family in 1922. Twenty additional acres were given by Jennie Vanderheyden the following year bringing the total area at that time to 190 acres. Work was underway by 1923 to fill in the swampy areas. The fountain was completed in January 1924 and the pavilion at Fifteenth Street and Frear Avenue was finished in 1925. The Arcadia Building, now used as a maintenace facility, was opened in July 1925 with a formal dance. The building at the time was described as: “a beautiful structure made from brick and the dance hall will accommodate 300 dancers. At each end is a stone fireplace. There is a bubbling drinking fountain for the people to use. The floor is highly polished.” The golf course was completed in the spring of 1931 and the clubhouse was constructed during 1935. The most recent of the park’s structures, an ice hockey rink, was constructed around 1980. Today, the 150+ acre park also offers tennis, playground and picnic facilities.