The park has been playing the role of the city's walking garden since its creation in 1866. At that time, from the Dyksonówka and Podwale farms located on the outskirts of the city, a plot of several hectares was designated for a shooting range and a city garden. In the area obtained in 1866 from the City Council, the Rifle Society built its headquarters and an embanked shooting range, the outline of which is visible to this day. On the rest of the plot, a park was established, from the beginning called "Strzelecki". The author of its modernist design was Antoni Schmidt. In 1879, an orangery of his design was built in the park, and a gazebo in 1884. The park was divided into two parts, a walking part from the east and an economic part from the west. The farm part consisted of a vegetable garden (now a Jordanian garden) and a pomological garden, that is nurseries of fruit and ornamental trees (now a slope above the Jordanowski garden).

The most magnificent building here is the neo-Gothic palace of the Rifle Society from 1866, today the seat of the BWA City Gallery. The building in the Viennese Art Nouveau style next to it is the home of the municipal gardener. Its construction was completed in 1907. In 1912, a fountain with a figure of the goddess Hebe and four lions was placed on a flower bed at the top of the hill. In 1912, a water chime was erected nearby, the work of J. A. Mipert, in the form of a column with a water vessel. In 1913, the farm part of the park was turned into a Jordan garden.

The most famous object in the park and one of the city's landmarks is the Mausoleum of Józef Bem with an urn with the ashes of the general placed in a sarcophagus, designed by Adolf Szyszko-Bohusz and erected in the years 1927-1928 in the middle of the park pond.

In 1927, the park was fenced with a monumental gate. It is a large green area with very old trees and rich fauna. Nature monuments are among the trees found there. The dominant specimens are maple, native specimens (common, sycamore and field) and foreign (silver, ash) and the rare Cappadocia maple. Trees from around the world also grow here, such as: American tulipwood, plane tree, Canadian fir, Douglas fir, Japanese ginkgo and white horse chestnut. Some trees come from original plantings and are about 150 years old, like oaks in an alley along Piłsudskiego street. There is also a nature and educational path with stops marked at the most interesting plant species. The benches along the alleys and the playground for children allow for a pleasant moment of rest.