Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1885-10-08
THE PUBLIC PARK.
Meeting of tine Park Commission
and Councils OOmnrittee-A1igh
Prices for Land.


q Prices for Land.
v AT the office of the Chief Engineer {
e the Surveying Department, Saturday a
|. ternoon, meeting was held of con
|. mittee of the Park Commission and Cit
/, Councips committee on park, to examin
t and consider propositions from owners G
3 the property embraced in the survey re
z Gently ordered OF the land to be embrace
Q in the proposed public park. Chief Eng
I neer Robinson submitted handsom
: and carefully prepared plotof the groun'
involved, showing not only the genera
. limits, but the tracts held by each prop
, erty owner, and the quantity of land in
| cluded in each tract.
+ Since the last meeting of the two bodie
i circulars were addressed to the differen
owners of the land, inquiring their loves
! figures for the sale of their land to tn,
city for park purposes, and answers ha(
meanwhile been received from nearly all
The figures in these answers showed I
most astounding increase in the value o.
real estate during the past two years. Ii
two instances the land was offered fol
what the parties paid for it at the last
sale, and in q few others only a reason
able increase was demanded; but in the
great majority most exorbitant
figure was named. Along lowering
avenue, property that was bought
less than three years ago for $500
was offered for about $4,000, aud
the beds of Harrison aud Franklin streets,
from Lowering avenue to the Brandywine,
which the City Council refused to accept
as free gift few years ago, were coolly
offered ut 30, 600, less 81, 900 which the
owner proposed to donate for park pur-
poses, or 81 900 net. In only one cnse
along Lowering avenue was unimproved
property offered ut less than SO per cent
advance over the selling price of two or
three years ago, the other figures pro-
posed being entirely out of reason. The
| st. James Church property, at
Lowering avenue and dupont street,
WAS offered ut figure which will scarcely
recompense the holders for the amount
paid for the ground and expended for the
buildings. For ground on the north side
of the Brandywine the prices asked were
not quite SO extravagant, although they
were regarded as rather exorbitant. For
the Law property, adjoining Mt. Salem
M. e. Church, the sum of $40,00 was
asked for about 81 acres, when it is
known that within two years land in this
neighborhood was purchased for about
| $3.50 per acre, which sum was regarded as
Unusually high at the time of the sale.
In the offers for the undesirable and
rocky plat of ground bounded by Maple,
Beech, Franklin and Broome streets, in
the Eleventh ward, which is only fitted
for park purposes, the same remarkable
rise in value was shown. This tract was
disposed of at public sale about two years
/ - In, fn04
only one offer to the city for park
purposes was as low as SO per foot. All
the other owners ooolly offered their
lands at from $40 to $15 per foot, just as
though their possessions were eligible
buildings sites instead of rocky park
grounds which would involve cost of
far more than they are worth to put into
good condition for building purposes. In
summing up the various offers, as re-
ceived by the commission, the following
result was reached.
For land on the north side of the Bran
For land on the south side Of the Bran '0'''0
dywtn9. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. 1890
For the Law property. rty..,................. 10000
For the Eleventh ward tract, ............ 1900
Estimate OF tracts for which no offers
Were received. ....,.........,.......... 5000
Iotai ..-.......,...-.......... $3.50 800
For present purposes the Law
property can be left out of consideration
entirely as it will be years before
it will be necessary to extend
the Brandywine park beyond the
city limits. This will leave the total cost
of the land desired, according to the
owners propositions, at $190,800. The
amount available for park purposes, at
the utmost, is only $3.50, 900, but the inn
preston is that the desired land ought to
be procured for at least 40 per cent less
than the prices offered, which would
enable the city TO purchase all the land at
present required for the amount it is at
present authorized to borrowand expend.
The propositions received were carefully
considered, and unanimously declared to
be too high. The joint commission will
leisurely consider the subject and make
the owners n proposition upon what is
considered fair basis. Should this offer
be rejected commissions will be asked for,
and if the return of the commissions
should sustain the property owners in
stead of the city in the estimated values,
the entire park project will be dropped.
For the park commission and Councils
committee are firmly determined not to
allow the city to be outrageously i'm
posed upon by paying three or four
prices for land for park purposes, in
order to put profit in the pockets of the
owners of land that will not prove half as
valuable for ordinary purposes, MS the
present holders think it ought TO be worth
if used for public park.