Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 216, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 September 1913 — BELIEVES THAT WE NEED THE PARK [ARTICLE]

BELIEVES THAT WE NEED THE PARK

Citizen Says That No Time Should Be Lost in Buying Land and Landscaping It. “I wish,” said a citizen to The Republican editor today, “that you would get behind the new park proposition with plenty of vigor and see if we ean not make this proposition win out without longer delay.” The gentleman who expressed himself thus has had many opportunities to study the park plans adopted in many other cities and he knows that it is a common fault to put off the establishment of city parks until the land has become very high ih price and consequently desirable locations very difficult to acquire. The time to buy park property is before the town grows extensively and in Rensselaer the time is right now. A petition was circulated recently that contained the names of almost every citizen to whom it was presented. The council, or a majority, are understood to favor the purchase of a tract without delay and we believe that public sentiment is generally in favor of it as a means of making our city more attractive and in keeping with the spirit of advancement shown so generally by residents. The magnificent attention given to Weston cemetery by Sexton J. B. Holden and the splendid cooperation he has enjoyed from the cemetery board and the public in general has given us a cemetery equaled in no small city, we feel safe to say, in Indiana. Mr. Holden’s work is only begun. The landscaping plans when carried out will make it still more attractive. It has proven that Mr. Holden has nt>t only the initiative to plan but the ability to carry into execution his plans in a manner exceeding the prospectus bas proven him a real artist. There has been a turning toward the Strong tract, where the Chautauqua was located, and Mr. Holden has in his mind’s eye pictured this tract in a city park, connected with cemetery by means of a cement arch bridge, a driveway along the river bank, and the whole tract trimmed up and beautified. If the old Kannal property could be bought and included in the park, the city would own a tract only separated by one street and extending from the point of Milroy park, just across the river, to the west end of the cemetery. There is a possibility afforded in vers few cities and the cost would not be so immense, not nearly so great, we believe, as the advantages to be attained. The Republican will be pleased if any of its readers will offer to comment on this proposition through' these columns. The plan is of vital interest to all who expect to remain long In Rensselaer. It will furnish a park that will in time be worth to many, many times what it will coat. The time to acquire it is now. Later it would cost much more. If the money is not available to improve it, the needed things can be taken up leisurely and in three or four years we will have the work well Under way. It would be a grand thing if some of our wealthy men would buy the land and make the city a present of it, letting it bear the name of the donor as a memorial to his public spirited generosity