The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1907-11-13
DEFEND PARK SITE
REPLY MADE TO CHARGES
OF lRvINGT0MIANS.
Commissioner Sinclair and Secretary
Church Claim Ground Is Good
and Cheap. e

Aside from the disappointment that
some people will a In not having the
new Irvington park located In their vicinity,
I believe that the people of the town
will be very much pleased In the selection
OF the site by the park commissioners
was the comment today Of Robert s. Sim
clair, of South Orange, a member OF the
commission, on the expressions OF the dis
pleasure over the site made by members
of the West End Improvement Associa-
tion, of Irvington, at their meeting last
night. Mr.. Sinclair discussed freely the
report of the meeting of last night and
answered the charges made.
Alonzo Church, secretary OF the COM
mission also discussed the charges. which
were to the effect that the commission
had bought a swamp for a park. IS
That a pat Of the property Is wampy
Mr.. Church was ready to admit. But 1t
Is the policy Of the park commissioners.
he said. 10 utilize undeveloped lands and
lands not readily capable Of development
for other purposes for parks. He cited
Branch Brook, the Weequahic, Orange
and other parks as examples of the policy
pursued by the commissioners in the past.
A good portion of the Branch Brook Park.
he said. was a great swamp of compara-
lively little value for other purposes, and
yet as a park II has been developed into
a beautiful place.
1t Is not true. he said, that the site Is
all swanpy. The fact is, he said, that but
one-third Is low land. while the remainder
Is a rolling hill and q part Is as high az
any ground In lrvington. From the west
there Is a beautiful view, looking over the
Orange Mountains, that can never be cut
off. He was inclined to make light OF the
charges that the air In the neighborhood 70
sometimes charged with acid umeS n
Board of Health could attend to anything
/ af that patura and IF thn nOlIIItlnu OF the
brook, If there Is any, he said. rs 70 the
quality of the water, 1t figures but little.
lie claimed, us II is the Intention OF the
commission, at present, TO flood the
grounds in the winter only for skating pur-
poses, as the Iryingtorians wanted, he
said.
AS to the Impurities in the water, he
pointed out the fact that the brook In
question flows Into brakes lower pond. ono
of the sites favored. The accessibility OF
| the site. he said, had much to do with inc
commissioners selection. and It's adapta'
bility for the purposes needed also urged tu
selection. The lower pond site, he said
offered no plnce for a playground, such al
the people OF Irvington wanted.
AS to the cost of the site, he answered
by drawing comparisons. The Upper POND
site vas looked upon very. .favqrabiy.
he stated. but the owner, Mahlon Drake.
wanted $4,000 for the pond part alone,
and that figure, he said, was prohibitive at
the very outset. For the Lower Pond site
Mr.. Drake, he said, wanted $4,000, and
this. he said, was out of the commissions
erA' possible reach, and those figures, he
said. were only tentative. and refutes the
assertion TINT the site would have cost
but half as much an acre.
The commission, he declared, has never
been able to purchase a site of even Mt
teen acres In Irvington adaptable for park
purposes for less than the $50, coo paid for
the thirty acres included in the X
tract. Explaining why but 10000 OF the
$500, 600 appropriated went to Irvingtcn, Mr.
Sinclair stated that 1t was agreed that
$500, 600 should 20 TO the "Ironbound" dis
trict. and that representatives of the peQ-
pie of Irvlngton agreed to share the 100000
remaining with the town of Bloomfield,
Charges that the funds were wasted, ne
declared, were too absurd to be answered,
When the tract has been developed Tor the
purpose for which IL Is intended. the result
will be a beautiful park for Irvington, was
his. finai opinion.
The charges at the improvement associ-
alton, last night. were made principa1y
by Alee @roeh Z, daeq Fgward Jacoby' AT.
fred Kass and Harry G. Herbert.
Briefly Mr.. Lacombe charged that, the
acid fumes In the all and the polluted
streams made the site undesirable, while
the price paid he declared was exorbi-
tant. He favored the Lower Pond site.
Any other site in Irvington would have
been preferable, was Mr., Helms SOM
Mr.. Herbert rldiculed the whole trans
action.
Mr.. Jacoby said the own should have
received 100000 for park purposes Instead
Mr. Kaas declared that the transaction
appeared TO him to be OF a 'snady
nature.