The Bissonnette Gardens and Anne Kuchinka Amphitheater grace the Hilltop Area of Oglebay Park. The gardens feature sixteen acres of water features, outdoor sculptures, and more than thirty flower beds. The entire site is a recreation of the gardens the way Sallie Oglebay, Earl W. Oglebay’s wife, had them laid out in the early twentieth century. World renowned landscape architect Ossian Cole Simonds designed the gardens in the early twentieth century. The Bissonnette Gardens were formerly known as the Waddington Gardens. In 1999, the gardens were rededicated in honor of Joseph F. Bissonnette, who was the Wheeling Park Commission Director of Development from 1975 to 1992. 

 Guests can admire tulips, hyacinths, pansies and daffodils in the spring; canna, salvia, celosia, angelonia, verbena, petunia, and geranium in the summer; and mums in the fall. In addition to natural beauty, the garden is also graced with a variety of permanent and temporary sculptural works. The inclusion of art in the garden began in 2017 with the purchase of Jeff Forster’s “Miss West Virginia.” 

In the same area of the park as the gardens is the Anne Kuchinka Amphitheater. This open-air performance venue was built in 1930 by Civilian Conservation Corps members. The stage and seating area have been updated over the years to include 1,400 seats, though it retains its original location and has been used continuously for almost a century. 

Bethel, Betsy. Inaugural Sculpture Exhibit Opens At Oglebay’s Bissonnette Gardens, The Intelligencer. August 27th 2017. Accessed February 24th 2021. https://www.theintelligencer.net/life/features/2017/08/inaugural-sculpture-exhibit-opens-at-oglebays-bissonnette-gardens/.

Bissonnette Gardens at Oglebay, Oglebay. January 1st 2018. Accessed February 24th 2021. http://oglebay.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Bissonette-Gardens-Brochure.pdf.

Bissonnette Gardens, Oglebay. Accessed February 24th 2021. https://oglebay.com/activities/bissonnette-gardens/.

Carney, Brent. Oglebay Park. Mount Pleasant, SC. Arcadia Publishing, 2005.

Experience Oglebay, Oglebay. Accessed February 24th 2021. https://oglebay.com/experience-oglebay/.

Garden Works Sculpture Exhibit, Oglebay. Accessed February 24th 2021. https://oglebay.com/activities/garden-works/.

History of Oglebay, Oglebay. Accessed February 24th 2021. https://files.meetup.com/513500/History%20of%20Oglebay%20Park.pdf.