The record-union., 1897-03-23
A GREAT SUBURBAN RESORT.
The Oak Park Enterprise viii be Started
at Once.
Baseball Grounds, Bicycle Track,
Theater, Trap Shooting, Rifle
Range, Etc.

AT last all the plans and arrange
ments for the amusement and athletic
buildings and grounds at Oak Park
have been completed, the contracts for
the work have been let, and by May
1st the place will be thrown open to
the public.
1t has remained for J. A Morton
OF Oakland, a man of means, energy
and business qualifications to accom-
plish that which SO many others have
talked about for years, but were un-
able to put the plans into execution.
Yesterday Mr.. Morton completed the
awarding of contracts for the buildings,
etc, and even ordered the lumber re-
quired, and work will be begun at
once. In thirty days, therefore, Sac
ramento will have the most elaborate
pleasure resort of any place on the
coast. The plans include:
A combined baseball park and bicycle
track covering a space 6O0x75O feet, in
closed by fourteen-foot fence.
The bicycle track will be one-third of
a mile, or 1,76O feet. 1t will be laid
with vertical grain Oregon pine in 114x
112 strips, which makes the best track
known.
The grand stand will be 200 feet long,
with ten rows of seats, and covered by
roof The 'bleachers" will be 100
feet in extent
There Will be a theater building, or
indoor amusement hall, with stage and
all the necessary appurtenances of a
theater This building will be 100x11O
feet, and Will also include a skating
rink and dancing hall, the floor of
which will be of 1Ax11a Oregon pine
strips, mitered from the corners to the
center. Performances viii be given
throughout the summer evenings.
The building will also be provided
with a clubroom, refreshment room,
etc, beneath the raised seats of the
theater
The thCater will be provided with
seats to accommodate 1000 persons.
Mr.. Morton has also arranged with
William II. Eckhardt for a trap shoot
ing annex to the grounds, where knights
of the trigger may indulge in bluerock
and other shooting.
Then there will be a 250-yard rifle
range for marksmen who have no taste
for the scatter guns" Instead of the
earth and boards, Mr. Morton will erect
bullet barrier of heavy planks 60 feet
long This will be raised 20 feet from
the ground Immediately behind the tar
gets, but the other end will rest on
the ground, giving a sharp slant or in
cline. \ bullet striking this incline
will be at once DETECTED downward
and bury itself in the ground. This will
prevent any possibility of bullets pene-
trating the bulkhead or being DETECTED
to one side.
1t Will take tWenty-one carloads of
lumber to erect the buildings, lay the
tracks, etc. There will be 251 900 feet
Of Oregon pine $4,000 feet of redwood,
and 100000 shingles The lumber has
been ordered from the Friend & Terry
Lumber Company
All Of the contracts, except one, have
been let to Sacramento men. That one
is for a particular kind of work of
which a mechanic in Oakland makes a
specially. and he will have that portion
Of the work
There are ten or dozen stately and
outrageous oaks that will have to be
removed, and Mr.. Morton will try and
induce the Electric Railway Company
to have them taken up by the roots
and replanted by the side of the ath-
letic grounds. instead of being cut
down. He says this can be done for
about $40 each.
Mr., Morton says The place will be
maintained as highly respectable
pleasure resort where families may go
without the slightest fear of encoun-
tering anything disagf eeable or annoy
ing. Every phase Of rowdyism will be
suppressed with rigor. and disreputable
characters viii be compelled to seek
other quarters