When he sold the paper company and retired, he bought a large tract of land on what was then the outskirts of the city.

A year later, additional land was purchased, and the city began to build the park.

In the 1930s, a dam was built across Gill Creek, which flooded swampland and created Hyde Park Lake.

In 1928, the Niagara Falls Power Company donated 58 acres (23 ha) to the park.

Sal Maglie Stadium was originally built in 1936 as a Works Progress Administration project during the Great Depression and dedicated by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.