Imperial Valley press., 1939-01-01
Ames Urges Construction OF
City Park Before Valuation of
El Centre Property Beyond Reach

llJO a SIlIllli CnllulSn JfeDle. Inc
employees of the City Park depart
ment occasionally near that vocal
metamorphosis when they are per-
forming the necessary task of prun-
ing the city's street trees, ana
some confused citizen hustles out
shouting Don't touch my trees! I
don't allow the city to trim my
treeS!" Meaning of course, the
city's street trees in front of his
property, because the street trees
are city property regardless of who
may have planted them, just as
the sidewalks are city property re-
gardleSS of who paid for them. 1t
is just one of those things that it
is more polite to overlook with
out smiling. We will outgrow it
after a while. 1t is something
which could never happen in Pasa-
dena, Los Angeles, or San Diego.
1t is a pretty sure index of a
persons interest, if you can know
what he looks for first when he
picks up his daily paper. Although
I am neither a builder nor a real
tor I always look first for the
building permit totals in the upper
corner of the front page of my
Morning Post. I do not worship
bignesS. IF I preferred to live in
large city I could easily do so.
But do like to live in a town that
is alive, a town that is growing,
a town that is going places and
doing things. I have taken a great
deal OF pride during the past year
iii watching our Ell Centro building
permit totals for 1898, steadily
climbing toward the million
mark. And in knowing that the
greater part Of those permits were
for good, substantial, permanent
homes. 1t is one of the indications
that we are growing up.
Ell Centro will never be a Los
Angeles or a San francisco; but
there is a place in southeastern
California for a CITY of fifty TO a
hundred thousand population. A
city which will be to the Imperial
Valley what Fresno is to the San
Joaquin Valley. l think that Ell
Centro is the logical location for
that city If our chs Smber of ccm-
merce were to adopt as a slogan:
Fifty thousand in So I believe
they would find that goal possible
of attainment.
And now all of this prognostica-
ton leads up to this: The growing
town of Ell Centre should begin
now TO plan recreational facilities
for the city of Ell Centro which is
to be. First of all we should begin
to lay plans for a real park. We
have a ball ground of which any
city could be proud, but a ball
ground is not a park. We are 60
ing to have childrenS play ground,
and Fairgrounds for the children
ere an essential part of that recre-
ational facilities of any city. But
a play ground is not a park. A
real park for the Ell Centro that
is to be, should consist of not less
than twenty or thirty acres. 1t
should be located adjacent to the
city and upon one OF the major
highways, where it will be seen
and remembered by all who pass
this way. And it should be devel-
oped gradually over a period of
years, as funds are made available
for that development.
Land values around FL Centro
will never be any lower than they
are now. The time to acquire a
park site is before the city has
grown larger and values have risen
higher If the chamber Of COM
merce, the Women's clubs and var
ious civic organizations would get
behind the project, I am sure that
in ii few years our city could have
a park worthy of her.