A community-wide beautification plan was developed in March 1924 by the Civics Bureau of the Chamber of Commerce. This campaign would last throughout the 1920s. The Daily Standard reported "Miss Edna A. Sutermeister, formerly associated with George Kessler and now with Hare and Hare, landscape architects of Kansas City, was in Excelsior Springs yesterday making a preliminary survey with a view to giving an estimate to the cost of preparing a complete beautification plan for Excelsior Springs. Nature continued to retard progress during 1924 as the city was attacked by the deadly web worm, destroying the big shade trees in all parts of the city and Siloam Gardens. In August, a wind and rain storm near cyclone level put Siloam Gardens, for a short time, under several feet of water, the main channel rising almost to the top of the dike. It was the first time in three years the parkland had flooded. In 1927, the Civic Improvement Association, during the annual spring clean-up, adopted the entrance to Siloam Gardens, providing new curbing, draining and plantings to include ornamental shrubbery and flowers. They also made plans for the improvement of the public playground in Siloam Gardens. For many years, they retained a playground supervisor, paid through private donations to the club, to provide activities in the park for the children. The playground equipment at that time included swings, slides, a sand pile, see-saw boards, giant stride and other recreations. Also in 1927, the City Council moved to study a plan for taking over and operating the approved springs and wells, in addition to the already owned Siloam and Regent waters. This would ultimately lead to the building of the Hall of Waters and the destruction of the never completed Siloam Gardens. Considered "a far cry from the tin cup days", the building of the Hall of Waters signified a new era in the development of Excelsior Springs. Click to continue: A new era -- the Hall of Waters Return to top