The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1908-05-26
THINK GROUND
TOO VALUABLE
IN. P. oFFicIALc REPLY TO RE-
QUEST TO PRESERVE PARK.
LETTER FROM ELLIOTT
President and General superintend-
ent Of Railway Company Do Not
Agree With Citizens Regarding
Saving Of Park.

The following letters received re
Gently by the chamber Of commerce
from President Elliott and General
| Superintendent Goodell Of the North
ern Pacific express the sentiments
of those two officials regarding the
preservation of the ground between
Twenty-sevenun and T~wenty-ninth
streets for park purposes, as is asked
by the chamber Of commerce and the
Billings Woman's club in petitions
forwarded to President Elliott and
Mr.. Goodell recently:
EIIiott's Letter.
st. Paul, Mimi. May 81, 1908.
MI. Jean p. Decker, Secretary Cham
Der of Commerce, Billings, Mont.
Dear Sir: / have your letter OF
May is about leaving vacant the
north side Of our r~ight-of-way be
tween Twenty-ninth and Twenty-sev-
enth streets after the new passenger
station is constructed.
We intend to leave the present va
cant ground by the Billings library in
its present condition. When the new
passenger station is built there will
be some vacant ground about that,
which we will put in good order with
grass. We do not believe that the
balance of the ground should be left
idle.
We are firm believers in the
growth of Billings, and n element
in that growth will be the furnishing
Of sites for industrial purposes that
have track facilities. In fact, when
our party was in Billings some 10
days ago, quite a number of your i'm
portant business men spoke to us
about the necessity Of furnishing such
locations IN the rfignt-of-way. We
think we should furnish such IDEA
lions for the upbuilding of the COM
mercial business Of Billings.
Apparently there is a difference Of
opinion between your citizens OF this
subject, as some of them do not agree
with the position taken in your letter
of the fifteenth. Personally, how
ever, I believe that in the long run It
will be better to build up business
along the Northern Pacific tracks,
leaving park places about the. library
and the station, rather than to leave
such a large part of the center of
your city idle. Yours truly,
HOWARD ELLIOTT. President.
GoodeIl's Letter.
Livingston, Mont, May 16, 1908.
> Mr.. Jean p. Decker, Secretary Cham
Der Of Commerce, Billings, Mont.
;, Dear Sir: This will acknowledge
receipt of your favor of the 18th,
wherein you request that after the
completion and putting into use OF
the station, which we are about
: to build at Billings, and the removal
of the old station, the space between
the present Billings library and the
new station be left open and parked,
instead of being devoted to business
purposes.
In reply I will state that this com
pany will do everything 1t consist:
emily can for the purpose of beauti:
! flying and making attractive the sur.
roundings of this new station at
Billings and retaining ample space
!. for this purposeA around the Billings
library. I am unable at this time,
however, to agree to abstain from de.
voting to business purposes the space
of ground. between Twenty-sixth and
Twenty-ninth streets, lying north OF
our main track. 1t is possible, OF
) course, that we may be able to keep
/ this open for a time, but it appears
to us that should the necessity or op
portunity arise for devoting this tc
business purposes, 1t is altogether toe
valuable a property for us to deprive
ourselves of the 8 Of and deprive
Billings Of the use OF, in order tt
maintains a. park there.
The growth OF your city in which
: you Is we'll as the railway company
take SO much pride makes room fol
expansion necessary. The location o.
: the land is in the heart Of your city
: and business district and is extreme
ly valuable on that account, SO thai
9 i would appear that asking us tt
deprive ourselves Of the benefit o.
that property is asking us to do a lit
9 tie more than we ought to be ex
pected to.
AS 1 say, I am unable ia state pos
itively to what uses that piece o.
property will be put, but the aesthet
ical idea will be borne in mind and
we will undertake to make the sur
roundings of our new station attract
i've and leave as much of the GROUND
between T~wenty-sixth and Twenty
ninth streets open as we can, consist
emily. Yours very truly,
q. A. GooDELL,
General Superintendent
=. Man wants ioh as dairvman. frs