Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-03-18

the levee and the railroad depots, will make,
the park the resort of the roughs always
found in these localities to the exclusioa Of
the respectable working classes these small
interior parks are especially designed to
benefit. Another thing property owners,
| while acknowledging that wholesale
houses must of necessity be located on all
| the streets opposite the park, claim that
the unoccupied space will lessen the value
of the improvements made, as persons en-
gagged in business find it an advantage to
be surrounded and confronted by business
on all sides. This you have seen exempli-
| fed by the way the large wholesale houses
! have been concentrating on Fourth street
in the past few years, those in the same
! line getting as close together as possible.
| Another very important consideration is
found in the fact that the square is now
very valuable for business, and if sold
enough would be realized from it to pur-
chase half a dozen small parks in more
favored localities.
'But," remarked the envoy, if my mem
DRY serves me right, the handsome park in
Cincinnati, the one with the big monu-
ment, is located in the same relative posi-
| ton as is Smith Park in st. Paul"
There's where you are mistaken" an
swered Mr.. Van Slyke. The Cincinnati
park you refer to is surrounded by large
retail houses, not wholesale as will be the
case here. The streets about the Cincin-
natl are the fashionable promenades of the
city, and always brilliantly illuminated,
while couple of squares away in the
wholesale section all is darkness after
nightfall and a graveyard quiet prevails"
well, admitting the soundness of your
| theorizing, Mr.. Van Slyke, what
| is the prospect for securing the
consent of the heirs of the legatees
to the sale, as required by the legislative
act?'
every good, indeed, ;" responded Mr.. Van
Slyke. "Some of the heirs have already
been heard from favorably, and 1 do not
think any trouble will be experienced in
securing full title in the city to sell under
the provisions of the act. The most
trouble that anticipate is in convincing
some of our own people that there is not
| job in the proposed transaction, and that
those who have been instrumental in secur-
ing the legislation had, and are DESTROYS
of selling the property have been actuated
solely by what they consider the best in
terests of the city. And I think any one
who will look at the proposition calmly
|
conclusion. There is no possible chance
for job. If sold, the best bidder will get
it and the proceeds go directly into the city
treasury and is there held in
trust for the purchase of other
property for parks. If it is done it will
result in giyiag st. Paul from three to
half dozen parks in much more favorable
locations, and, that is all there is OF it.
CoMo PARK.
The agitation which eliminated in the
purchase of this park was commenced in
1871, the strongest advocate of the wis
dom of the purchase being the chamber of
! commerce. Finally, Jan. 81, 1872, a res
olution offered by Aid. Murray, was
adopted by the city council, providing for
the appointment of five commissioners,
one from each ward, such appointments to
be made by the judges of the
district court to contract
for the purchase of not less than 600 acres
of land, to be paid for by the issue of bonds
to run for thirty years and bear per
cent. interest; the land when purchased to
be under the joint control of the board of
public works and the city council, who were
authorized to lay out 200 acres or less in lots
to be sold, the proceeds of such sales to
constitute sinking fund for the payment
of interest upon the bonds, the excess if
any, to be used in improving the remain
der of the land as park.
Subsequently this plan was materially
modified, and during the winter of 1873
legislative authority was secured for the
issue of 100000 in thirty yeag bonds for
the purchase of land for a park, the act
naming H. H. Sibley, ". ? Murray,
j. A. Wheelock, J. @. Burbank and Samuel
Calhoun as commissioners to make the
purchases. May 81 following the commits
sioners reported to the council the pur-
chase of 1885 acres of land lying north
and west of Lake Como, but as this land
did not touch the lake at any point the
commission was continued, and June 10
following it reported the additional pur-
chase of 26.40 acres running down to the
lake, giving in all 1895 acres, for which
the bond issue of 100000 was accepted,
though the actual price as first agreed up
on was nearly $4,000 more. To secure
the purchase beyond number of capital
lists subscribed $4,000, to be paid when the
Guy SnOulU commence 10 improve
the park. But the bonds having been &C
cepted in full payment of the purchase,
the subscribers have never been called
upon to pay up. Jnne "a the bonds were
issued and transfer completed.
At the time of the purchase
there was an almost unanimous sentiment
of approval, but when the hard times of
1874 began to be felt, and property rap
idly deprecated in value, there was almost
as unanimous condemnation of the trans
action, a sentiment that found expression
in the city council by resolution intro
duced by Aid. Krieger for its sale, the pro
ceeds to be used as sinking fund for the
payment of the bonds as they became due.
The resolution was reported upon adversely
by the ways and means committee to
which it was referred, and the attempt to
unload was dropped, but the grumbling
was continued for some time, not few
of those who had been most aggressive in
urging the purchase being especially
prominent in denouncing what they term
ed the wasteful extravaganza of the city
government.
The park since its purchase has been
rented for nominal sum and remains IN
the same condition as when purchased, |