Omaha daily bee., 1898-10-19
FUTURE FATE OF The LAGOON
Will 1t Remain to Beautify Kountse Park OF
Vanish Completely
PARK BOARD CONSIDERS THE QUESTION
H the Beautiful Ccnterpiecc of the
Court of Honor l. Retained, More
Land Must DC Purchased for
the Park site.

Shall the lagoon, the sparkling gem in the
center OF the beautiful court of honor of
the exposition, be filled up or shall 1t be
retained permanently as a certerplece for
a handsome city park? This Is a question
that must soon be answered, In view OF the
near approach Of the end of the exposition,
and the solution of the problem must APP
parently be reached by the Board OF Park
Commissioners, inasmuch as they own about
one-thrd Of the land upon which the la
goon lies.
The Park board has talked the matter
over and appears to have but one sentiment
regarding 1t. The members feel that IL 1t
is a possibility the lagoon should be pre-
served, but they are in a quandary as to the
ways and means Of accomplishing this OBJ
ject. The land on which the east and west
ends lie must be furnished, but the problem
OF raising the necessary money is a difficult
nut to crack.
Kountze park, which will succeed the ex-
position, consists Of eleven acres. 1t is wider
than the lagoon, but extends only from
Nineteenth street TO Twenty-first street
It's center is marked by the two bridges that
cross the sheet Of water on Twentieth street.
Therefore in order to preserve the lagoon,
It will be necessary TO purchase or in some
other way to secure the two blocks OF land
from Twenty first to Twenty and the
two blocks from Nineteenth to Seven
teenth.
While the board has talked over the mat
ter the members have not reached any sat
isfactory solution Of the problem. Captain
Palmer, however, advances plan for the
consideration of the property owners Of the
city living in the vicinity Of the exposi-
tion.
Wants the Lagoon Retained.
He says: "There is no question that by
retaining the lagoon and forming beautiful
park about 1t the property In the entire
vicinity will be greatly benefited and in
creased in value AS a consequence 1t would
seem to me that the owners could be brought
to sell the land at moderate figure.
think, then, that the other people who own
real estate in the neighborhood should be
appreciative enough OF the increased valua-
tion that the park would bring to their
land to be willing to do something to have
the park established 1t would be impossi-
BILE for the city in its present financial con-
dition to buy the needed land and therefore
. I would suggest that the property owners
raise enough money by subscription to pay
at least a part OF the cost Of the land, the
city to put in the remainder 1t would be
pity to have the lagoon filled up, but that
will probably be done II the property owners
do not come forward with some scheme OF
this character
Commissioner Evans would also like to
see the lagoon retained II the additional
ground can be secured In any way. II, how
ever, this Is found to lie impossible he has a
scheme to preserve the section OF 1t that
lies In the park tract. The little lake that
would result would lie in the center of the
future park. 90. .,....
Nothing will be done in connection with
the matter this year, however. In the first
place 1t Is not believed that the buildings
can be, removed In times Secondly the park
board has no money with which to fill the
lagoon or do anything with 1t, nor will
r any more money be forthcoming until the
board receives a share of next years tax
levy. As q consequence the lagoon will
probably lie as 1t Is until next spring. al
though the water will in all likelihood be
drained away in order to prevent accidents.
Board VIII he Renppointed.
Acting on the advice of City Attorney
Connell Mayor Moores will appoint new
Board OF Park Commissioners. probably next
week. He will do this in accordance with
the decision of the supreme court in the
Fire and Police boar I case. which places the
power of appointment Of city boards in the
hands of the mayor and city council. In
the past the board members were appointed
by the judges OF the district court. The
action OF the mayor, however, will not re-
suit in change in the present personnel
Of the hoard, as he proposes to simply re-
appoint the board as /. nov stands.
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