David Terry, age 16, of Grand Forks, N.D., for his question:

WHO DESIGNED NEW YORK'S CENTRAL PARK?

Appointed superintendent of the first great metropolitan park in the United States in 1857, Central Pazk in New York City, was Frederick Olmsted, the major American landscape architect of the time. 8e designed the famous park and drew up the first plans.

Olmsted collaborated with American architect Calvert Vaux.

Olmsted is given credit for being an influence on park design in all parts of the United States and Canada. Later he planned many important parks including Morningside, Prospect and Riverside parks in New York City, Jackson and Washington parks in Chicago and the grounds of the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Olmsted was also the first commissioner of Yosemite National Park in California.

Olmsted was a landscape architect who believed in preserving the natural features of the terrain and adding naturalistic elements when needed.