The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1941-02-26

woods with hiking trails, bride
trails and bicycle trails; that II
might provide hills for observation
and coasting and waters for swim
ming in summer and skating Ia
winter. that there might be a fine
club house and hotel as a part OF
the equipment as in the Indiana
state parks. There are more than
hundred golf courses in this area.
many Of which have very fine CLUB
houses. some OF which operate
throughout the year. They probably
do not reach more than one per
cent OF the people. II one per cent
of the people eau support so many
OF these fine establishments, II
seems probable. that the other
ninety-nine per cent can support at
least a dozen. Hotels and restau-
rants in the Indiana parks which
are not for the most part in a great
metropolitan area at any rate are
profitable.
Land Acquisition
II we consider the acquisition OF
land along the Huron and the Gin
ton we are faced with four funda.
mental difficulties: most OF the
best land is already occupied or
held for residence purposes. The
Michigan Central r. r. shuts off
the river on one side from Ypsilanti
to Dexter and much of the upper
reaches of both rivers is marshy
On the Clinton from Rochester TO
Mt. Clemens there are some fifteen
private parks. Ii should however be
possible to secure somewhere from
ten thousand to fifteen thousand
acres OF suitable land along the two
rivers.
Land along an accessible lake is
quite as good as land along a river.
There are nearly six hundred lakes
In the area. but unfortunately most
OF them are taken up for summer
residences or held at high prices
for such use.
There are already some twelve
dams on the Huron. The two of
these farthest up, creating Pontiac
and Ox-Bow Lake, have brought
considerable summer colony and
the development OF various forms
of recreation. There are several
places along the Huron and its
tributaries whore dams might be
built SOFAS to create a considerable
lake and eliminate marsh at the
same time, so the parkway might
come closer to the river.
There are a number of lakes in
the area that have been drained
that might be restored. and there
are others where lake with marshy
borders might be made up into an
inland lake by damming the outlet
and raising the level OF the water.
In the acquisition of sites first
consideration should be given to
the lands that have come back to
the state from the non.payment OF
taxes, though most Of these tracts
will be altogether too small for
regular parks. The Authority should
avoid the acceptance of tracts that
are badly located, unsuitable, or
that cannot be economically main
tanned.
Self Support
Unless the writer greatly mis-
reads the signs of the times, the
present tendency is to make many
OF the features OF the parks self
supporting. At any rate this is the
trend in national and state parks
and number of city systems.
The Indiana State Parks charge
ten cents admission, twenty-five
cents day for camping and Regular
commercial rates at their hotels,
restaurants and bathing beaches.
The hotels are so popular tina, rooms
usually have to be engaged two or
three weeks in advance and there
is often a long line waiting to get
into the dining rooms. The Dunes
State Park yielded a net profit Of
$4,000 in the summer of 1899.
The Westchester County system
reported profit OF $4,000 in 1885
and $4,000 in 1886.
There seems to be no reason why
bathing beaches, golf courses,
camping and restaurants should
not be self supporting.
Planning and Construction
There is always the danger in
planning any tract in detail before
1t is secured that the knowledge OF
such plan may lead to an increase
in price or that the work may have
been done for nothing But as soon
as a site is secured its use should
be carefully and thoroughly planned
before construction is begun. Such
planning would consist in laying
out the park drives and connectors,
and the hiking, bicycle aud bride
trails, the assignment of sections
for picnicking. camping, athletics.
swimming, children's Fairgrounds
and other uses.
The most popular activity in sum-
mer is bathing. There is no other
area that is so intensively used as
the beach or that attracts such
large crowds. There are some
very good beaches on the west
Il