The phrase “bring down the hammer” was never more fitting than in the early years of Kansas City’s park system. A group of citizens who believed a well-planned park and boulevard system would be too costly caused quite a brouhaha in the 1890s and created many headaches for park supporters. However, this group — known as the Hammer and Padlock Club — was no match for Delbert J. Haff.
Born in Michigan in 1859, Delbert lost his father at an early age and was largely self-educated before deciding that law would be his career. Armed with energy and a vision for a beautiful park system, Haff helped lead civic improvement efforts and played a key role in shaping legislation that gave Kansas City the authority to create and maintain parks and boulevards, along with innovative ways to fund them.
When the newly formed Parks Board hired him as an attorney, Haff successfully defended this park legislation against legal challenges brought by powerful property owners and taxpayers. His victories cleared the way for Kansas City to develop one of the nation’s most admired park and boulevard systems. He later became Park Board President, serving from 1908 to 1912, and during that time helped expand the system by some sixty square miles.
In 1916, to commemorate Haff’s achievements, a local artist was commissioned to create a portrait bust in his honor. For reasons now unknown, the sculpture was placed in storage and was not publicly displayed until 1967, many years after his death.
Fortunately, Haff did receive recognition during his lifetime. In 1940, at age 81, the Park Board paid tribute to his contributions by dedicating the landscaped circle outside the entrance to Swope Park in his honor. The circle itself had existed since 1927 and was considered one of the most beautiful spots in Kansas City. Just months before the dedication, Works Progress Administration crews were completing the large rectangular mirror pool directly east of the circle. In 1966, a center spray ring and seven vertical jets were added, sending fountain sprays nearly twenty-five feet into the air.
Finally, in 1967, Parks Director Frank Vaydik discovered the long-forgotten bust of Haff in storage and arranged for its installation at the west end of the mirror pool — completing a tribute decades in the making.
