Metal Edge, Inc. 2007 °A,T. RECOMMENDATIONS _ Metropolitan Park Commission Contained in Report to the General Assembly for 1911. Norre.—The full report is now in course of publication. These proof sheets of the more essential portions are presented in advance of the finished work in order that three important resolutions now before the General Assembly may be understood in time for proper action. These resolutions have been recommended by the unanimous vote at the annual meeting of the Commission, February 9, 1911. MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION. JANUARY, 1931. Ex-Officio Members. HENRY FLETCHER, Mayor of Providence. GILES W. EASTERBROOKS, Mayor of Pawtucket. xe RADE Ye Mayor of Central Falls. GEORGE M. HILL, President of the Town Council of East Providence. ADELBERT E. PLACE, President of the Town Council of Warwick. JONATHAN V. BARNES, President of the Town Council of Johnston. EDGAR B. HURDIS, President of the Town Council of North Providence. WILLIAM H. ERSKINE, President of the Town Council of Lincoln. ARTHUR L. SMITH, President of the Town Council of Barrington. PETER GASKIN, President of the Town Council of Cumberland. Wi EP. FAUNCE, President of Brown University. EK. TUDOR GROSS, President of the Board of Trade of Providence. HUGER ELLIOTT, Director of the R, I, School of Design, DOL -D. vi. 17 1916 METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSIONERS. 3 H. ANTHONY DYER, President of the Providence Art Club. HOWARD HOPPIN, President of the R. I. Chapter, American Institute of Architects. Members Appointed by the Governor of Rhode Island. FENNER H. PECKHAM, M. D., to serve until February 1, 1914. HENRY A. BARKER, to serve until February 1, 1913. JESSE H. METCALF, to serve until February 1, 1912. EDWARD F. ELY, to serve until February 1, 1911. HENRY F. LIPPITT, to serve until February 1, 1910. President.—FENNER H. Peckuam, M.D; Secretary—Henry A. BARKER, 32 Custom House Street, Providence; Assistant Secretarya—Epwarp F. Eny. Executive Committee —FENNER H. Peckuam, Chairman; Henry A. BARKER, Secretary; Jesse H. Metcatr, GeorGce F, Hui, E. Tupor Gross, Epwarp F. Ezy (ex-officio). Advisory Committee on Finance.—FENNER H. PeckKHaM, (e2-officio), HENRY FLetcHerR, Henry F. LIippirr. Consulting Landscape Architects and Professional Advisers. — OLMSTED BROTHERS. Engineer —Cuaruton D, Putnam. Office of the Commission.—32 Custom House Street, Providence. (In January, 1911, His Excellency, the Governor re-appointed Mr. Epwarp F. Eny to serve as a Commissioner until February 1, 1916. SYNOPSIS OF THE REPORTS PRESENTED BY THE Metropolitan Park Commission JANUARY, 1911. THREE ESPECIAL RECOMMENDATIONS. Three especial recommendations, which are made as very earnest requests, appear in the present report of the Metropolitan Park Commissioners: First. An immediate appropriation of $45,000 to finish the projects that are now nearing completion or for which especially pressing obliga- tion exists. These are now held up because the Commission have no more money. The items of cost that make up this total are all small ones except that for the Barrington Parkway. To finish this will require $26,906.36. Second. That the question of a bond issue of $250,000 be submitted to the voters of the State at the election in November, in order that the next General Assembly may have authority to provide funds for the remaining projects of the Commission’s “ Essential List,’ that have not yet been undertaken. As a result of the comprehensive study of the whole Metropolitan Park question, which the Commission was originally bidden to under- take, the various projects that were considered necessary to a com- plete system were divided into three classes of urgency. The “Essential” list as then explained, comprised those projects that demanded speedy attention, either because public need for them already existed, or because their obvious need in the near future REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. 9) could never be met unless action were taken very soon. The cost was estimated at that time at a little over $450,000, exclusive of improvements. $250,000 was asked for and granted in 1907 to begin the work of acquiring them, with the understanding that an equal additional sum would be requested as soon as the first lot were well under way. Having apportioned the funds and begun the work of land purchases, the General Assembly of 1909, and that of 1910, were in turn asked to enact necessary legislation looking to the second bond issue, but the opinion was expressed that the Commission should fully expend all the money on hand before more should be voted. In consequence, and as was fully prophesied in the preceding reports, the beginning of the year 1911 finds the Commission practically without funds to continue their work, and with a number of the “Essential Projects” which they consider as important as those undertaken, not yet attempted. If steps for a second bond issue may now be taken, all possible work of securing options and getting ready for undertaking these works will be immediately begun. Fur- ther delay, instead of being economical, will seriously interrupt the well organized labors of the Commission, and cause financial loss. Far more serious than any possible money loss, however, will be the blotting out of some of these projects from all possibility of future accomplishment. In several such cases, this would be a very con- siderable public calamity. Third. The Commission ask that the so-called Annual A ppropria- tion be made $10,000. This money pays for all the general expense of maintenance and administration that a bond issue does not provide for. Last year’s appropriation of $7,500 is quite insufficient for these purposes and especially so because the rapidly increasing use of the reservations has added materially to the expense of their operation. The Commission believe that the work they have been delegated to carry on fully ranks in importance with public Of Vast schools, good roads and decent sanitation, but Importance. it differs from these other enterprises in the urgency of its demand for immediate attention, 6 REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. because favorable opportunities now existing are about to disappear forever. Being thus charged with a public obligation to carry out the evident will of the people of the State as A Public expressed by a conclusive vote, and by the Obligation. action of several succeeding legislatures, the Commission feel fully justified in asking reason- able financial assistance. Their work is not a costly one measured in terms of the benefit that it confers upon all classes of the people; neither Nota is it costly as compared with other important Costly Work. works in this and other States. They find that all but one or two of the districts throughout the country that can be compared to this one, either in population or wealth, have been much more liberal in expenditures for public reservations and parks. They note that this Metropolitan Park system ministers directly to at least three-quarters of all the people of the State, and that it is vital to the welfare of a very large propor- tion of them. The necessary results can not be secured through any possible action of any individual city or town. The cost of maintaining a bond issue of $250,000, including the necessary sinking fund which will pay it off 2 1-2 Cents in due time, amounts to about $25 per year Apiece. for each 1,000 of the population concerned, though the history of similar enterprises in other places fully testifies that the gain in valuation—not to mention the dividends of extra prosperity, efficiency, health, and happiness— will speedily make such an undertaking more than self supporting. The reservations thus far secured possess remarkable variety that could not have been equalled by any possible What We Have expenditure in almost any other part of the So Far. country, while their geographical distribution over the large metropolitan area could not, possibly have been more fair with so small an appropriation. REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. i Still, with only half of its “Essential Projects” yet attempted, it is evident that another appropriation, as has been declared from the beginning, is necessary to properly cover the district. That this will very fairly equalize the benefits is fully shown by reference to the list of proposed projects and a study of the map. It will preserve for all time public assets that are of vital import- ance to the well being of the State; it will give To Secure assurance that is necessary to secure many Donations. valuable donations of property that is now being platted or in process of transformation, and that will otherwise be lost. From their own investigations and the wide experience of their expert advisers, the Commission are fully con- A Striking vinced that no other equally populous com- Comparison. nity in America has secured for an equally small expenditure, results of such extensive, varied, and far-reaching importance. As a striking contrast, they cite the Hudson County Park System of New Jersey, which provides for a district comparable in population and wealth, with our own. In our case, however, the necessary real estate thus far secured has been obtained at an average cost of about $185 per acre, but the New Jersey project was postponed or neglected until most of the natural opportunities were gone. On this account, it is costing from $3,500 to $4,500 per acre, and the land is now in condition that requires great expenditure to make it again usable for recreation by the people. The report describes in very full detail the various reservations secured, showing what work has been done Detailed upon them and what remains at this time to do. Information. All are entirely usable at present except the Barrington Parkway and the Ten Mile River Reservation. The latter can be made very valuable to the public by a slight expenditure, but the former calls for completion of the & REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. work specified, and already well advanced, before its especially important purpose as a continuous highway may be attained. The results to date (January 1, 1911) show ten separate proper- ties, of which four were wholly donated. There Some are nearly 727 acres of land and 564 acres of Figures. water area. The expenditures have been $232,972.33, of which $145,464.28 were for real estate purchases and the balance for improvements and expenses incident to their acquirement. Several small tracts of land along the Barrington Parkway and one at Lincoln Woods, not yet paid for, will require most of the unexpended balance. The reservations bought include 695% acres of land and 44} acres of water, and the average distance of these reservations from the State House is 34 miles. The reservations donated include 30? acres of land and 12 acres of water. There are two public bathing beaches; and two strips of parkway, not yet completed, amounting to 2 9-10 miles in length. Four miles of roads have been built and 7 miles of paths and trails constructed. The frontage on lakes, rivers, and bay, amounts to about 7 miles. The financial statements are very comprehensive and show in detail the cost of all lands and improvements to date. The system of (73 accounts and “cost-keeping” has been devised by the best experts known to the Commission, and has already been extensively copied by other park boards throughout the country. Though the make-up of the Commission is somewhat altered, it reiterates the recommendations of previous reports. Especial attention is called to the statements in the report of 1910 regarding the now unprovided for. The report of the sec- retary remarks that the saying that “Many a man has lost a dollar trying to save a nickel,” might properly apply to a State, which for some attempted purpose of economy, should delay securing its Previous Reports Approved. +} “Tssential Projects’ necessary public assets until the chance of saving them is gone forever, SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. To the Honorable the General Assembly: In submitting their annual report for the year ending December 31, 1910, the Metropolitan Park Commissioners have attempted to supply to the members of the General Assembly a record of the work performed during the year, covering both the extension and the development of the various properties acquired, and also a financial statement, showing as clearly as possible the expenditures of the twelve months just ended, together with an exhibit of all previous expenditures, so that the cost of each reservation, somewhat exten- sively itemized, may be seen at a glance. We believe that any careful consideration of the results thus far accomplished toward the acquirement and de- The Commission’s velopment of an adequate Metropolitan System Duty. of Parks and Boulevards, will fully demon- strate that the work has been satisfactorily carried on in accordance with the desires of the people of the State. These desires, we think, have been fully expressed in the several acts of the General Assembly for creating and maintaining the Metropoli- tan Park District; in the emphatic endorsement of the preliminary bond issue by the electors at the general election in November, 1906, and in the almost unanimous approval of leading citizens and public organizations. It seems unnecessary to again call attention to the rapid and generous development of park and public reservation systems now going on in most American cities, or to the rather halting position 10 REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. of our own community in this enormously important affair. Suffice it to say that in economic value and vital human necessity this movement is now conceded to rank in importance with the older movements for schools, good roads, and decent sanitation, in its re- lation to the well being of the modern State. Our own Metropolitan project has been recognized and endorsed by all the General Assem- blies since 1905, in their successive acts for its furtherance; and it has been the constant and earnest endeavor of the Commission to carry out the purpose of the people and of the General Assembly, for the creation of such a park system as the public welfare requires and demands. A bond issue of $250,000 was proposed by the General Assembly of 1906, for the beginning of work upon the project that had been pre- viously outlined. This was heartily endorsed by the people of the State the following November, and, after other enabling acts by the General Assembly of 1907, became available the followmg May. This money has been made to cover all the work thus far accom- plished, but because the Commission foresaw that a serious and costly interruption would occur in the building-up of the park system, unless further appropriations were made in time to avoid it, they recom- mended to the General Assembly in 1909 and again in 1910, that the question of a second bond issue be submitted to the people. These assemblies did not see fit to act favorably upon the recom- mendation of the Commission, for the expressed reason that the money in hand should be fully spent before further appropriations were considered, and in order that the public might have some opportunity to perceive some of the results and value of the works proposed. The funds are now practically exhausted, and we point with entire satisfaction to nearly 800 acres of valuable and First Appropriation varied reservations, most of which are already Now Exhausted. — sufficiently improved to be available for the comfort and enjoyment of tens of thousands. Unlike the others, however, the Barrington Parkway cannot serve REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. 11 its more important purposes until it is practically completed accord- ing to its specifications. The Commission contracted in August, 1910, for the building of this much needed and popular parkway, and now having already accomplished nearly or quite 75 per cent. of the work, are obliged to forego the completion of this project until the General Assembly provides the funds. Lack of money also halts the necessary improvement of the other reservations and the contemplated extensions of the system that are essential for a more equitable distribution of benefits throughout the Metropolitan District. The Commission earnestly believes that this condition should be remedied by prompt and thoughtful action. It seems to your Commission most unreasonable that a matter of such supreme importance should be allowed to falter and halt for lack of financial support. Unless the earlier assemblies seriously erred in laying the foundations for the system, or the Commission has previously failed in its stewardship, we are fully justified in asking for the necessary co-operation and the means for the continuance of our work. Nor can we doubt that such support will be forthcoming. Accordingly, we very earnestly recommend and request the imme- diate provision of $45,000 for the carrying on Immediate Funds of the work now on hand, and which is specified Required. later. We also request that the necessary steps be taken at this session, in order that a second bond issue of $250,000 may be provided next year, if the electors express their approval at the November election. As is exhibited in full detail, farther on, the total expenditures of the Metropolitan Park Commission during the Expended During year 1910 were $108,640.63, of which $100,- 1910. 985.64 were of receipts remaining from the bond issue of $250,000 provided by the General Assembly four years ago, and the remainder from the annual ap- propriation provided for general expenses, and from small receipts from two of the reservations. Including the payments during the previous years, the total expenditures under the bond issue have been $232,972.33, leaving a balance, January 1, 1911, of $17,027.67, 12 REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. RESERVATIONS ALREADY SECURED. The acreage that has been secured can probably never again be duplicated in character and desirability for park purposes by any similar investment. The reservations now possessed are as follows: hae) “So[TUL FE | ‘yysnoq Beh a cr aCe ecem¥eleueie(ese a Pivirecpharanclvmelel eves! ismeses chekecerngets eee 1 oF 0° 869 | 6& ELO'LIZS . “9a0qe fon posieyo A[}ooIIp 4800 [#10], -SIp osB10AV g nen 1 a BOO ULC eile he Been alle tare cn pus *aAo0) 9°96 G LL | 10 886°L6 | 000‘2T$ ‘3809 payeurtyse ‘105 pred 4a q Be Ged ae M jou pur urezI00 ‘AvMyIeg UOWUTLIE g oni3suo ‘ = ‘soflur Gz | -UBsBIIeN UD 2 fe) iS) = 4 *so[ ful ty, eletelstefeyers) sie Fee . oe syee, Wie eee ene | *IOATI UO a] CL T *G “66 80 OLT‘&% Teese sss TOTP BAIOSAY IOAN eTUN Uday, < | a ee = _ Ce ‘o[ur T ‘1OATI : | pus spuod a “So[lUl Fp | “Soflur ¥g | “soylur pH joss Jayyo gah EN o2eT “9SF | G6 €99'8E (peyeuop uolzJ0d [[BUIs) Spoon, UPOOULT ‘puog s,Aeu[Q) 4 | fe) yal = = oO fea] GZzz eo esevelnss)a)0 m) sce)u, @.d,en0),@ 6.68) 8,01m a[LAIaA, i= | *poyeutyso . FE | bole 0: 0) .0)s, .0ie (0: sills} 6) =) 6) axe sees S}e[ OULLIa 3 * Soy Tur Zz ‘oprur T [Ese a rusne ene @nelis, a) e)ecelsls! rele 6) elie “So TUr 27 ynoqy 1ON GL . ZS Ze OIS'Ze |iele (ewe ere UONVAIOSOYY qoyonzeNbseuoo fy | ale eae" o) 1299) e “Solu ¥¢ “2 eee syele..6..e Cot OPT CLO CY 5) PCR OO CO Ca | Ue ees 0c . 6 GZI . 6 £0 CES‘6I18 eee eee . WOT} BAIOSOY yovegd poomespy | -U uO | (oe) | a | = Ps =| SCAT “Fg, “painoog ; : : | ; Io SWB | speoy nee TOOT 1276 Mi JOVEN pueT | -syuemaaoidmy eso 3381S) pue ‘ALV(] OL STVLOY, ‘TI6T ‘T AUVANVE Woy 9oURISTCT Kat puey jo 4s09 dO HLONGT GLvWIxouddy ‘SHU NI SVauy ‘dadunodg AGVUUTY SNOILVANASAY REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. 14 *suldaey-4s809 jo ure4sAs YUaseId HM oouBpIOD0B UL SUOTYVAIOSaI OYtoads Suowe paplAlp aq 0} orev YOIYM ‘OTGL 0} sJOlId Sto}! SNOMBA IO} pazy1odar A[snoraeid s}unoure Zurpnyouy x t * Solu COP ‘SUOI}BAIOSOI [[8 Jo ssvI0Ay “‘so[tut €9 ‘pez Buop SUOI}BA LOSI jo 90uB4 -SIp_dsBI0A YW “soyrurg¢ “SOTLUI QT “softur §¢ “soyrox FG ‘so[rur § (‘peqonaysuo0o ya you) Soplur f° Tzg GL°86L | €€ L6'CESS$ ee ON fF wEagsH ae) CA ensuese eee) |eileiimielislisisiielalail wiles" ecey carte FE 629'CLx oe ‘ SUOI}VAIOS01 [Breas Aq pereys ‘sasuedxo J9Yy}O puBe ‘ysod Zul -levuIsue ‘UOI}eIYSIUIUIPe JO sesuedxq SHO Gonae ooo Ol aorco Penola mee con 6 09 692 ‘++ *payeuop puyl uo JueMeIMboe pue JusuIeAOId ur 0} JUSpTOUL Sesudd xy ‘oul, Loqrey ONS) Orieibdg p/P Oo Bolama te Ga" {POPSUO Ge ||ek = ae POOMOYVT 7B Jalg UoTVBaIDAYy ‘sopra GZ ‘Aeq yorMudery ug |i s: e'CT ‘payeuog [orci stress ‘**-yoRag Jeynusne Ny a0),@).@0 4) 6) 467076 6).6 16 6))i in) a) 6 Sp hile, 6) 6 a8: (5) *poeyeu0g POO Ot otis ben) “ABMYIVT qnotzUueyseyy “soptur ¢2"* aye] UO ‘ZI ‘OL ‘payeuog [itis streets yivg jnonuvysayy REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. 15 It is difficult to imagine how so limited an appropriation for work in so large a district could have secured a more Useful Results — varied assortment of recreation places or pro- Thus Far. vided a more satisfactory distribution over the area to be served, for it must be remembered that the Metropolitan District of Providence Plantations is one of the largest urban areas in the United States. If considered as one community, which it really is, it would be found among the dozen most populous. No other community of equal size, however, has made so slight a provision for its park needs. When the Metropolitan district plan was devised to provide for the common requirements of these related towns and cities in a way that none of them separately could accomplish, it was anticipated that much more money would be provided and more of the essential parts of the park project would be set under way, so that the distribution of benefits would be more uniform. The year 1911 finds us with some of our most needed enterprises unbegun for lack of funds. As was prophesied in the previous reports the Commission now finds its work at a standstill until more funds Unfinished Work are secured. If means may be provided to Is Halted. resume the work upon the Barrington Parkway under the terms of the present contract by which it will be completed during the spring of 1911, a very satis- factory saving of cost will be ensured; and the public will speedily begin to derive full benefit from its use. The Commission believes, also, that they should undertake without delay some of the minor works mentioned in connection with other reservations, and estimate the amount necessary for immediate use at $45,000, to be appor- tioned about as follows: 16 REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. EstTiMATE oF AMOUNT REQUIRED FOR WorRK OF “ ACQUIREMENT AND PERMANENT IMPROVEMENT IN 1911. In Addition to Annual Appropriation for General Expenses. Probable cost of land already condemned...........+- 00: .055..% $17,000 00 Probable cost of certain lots at Woonasquatucket Reservation nec- ESSAY FONCOMCEMIT seisfe ec ha este tos apres oie a aie Soe terete Tea 500 00 Estimated cost of driveway at Merino Flats in accordance with terms OMMOUNCHASE. pesca le me Clany sis. Deneseupa ude ineueiols teks lsh rh allt es Bett haliat ete es 1,600 00 Estimated cost of entrance to new parkway at Meshanticut as per uae lee ENA CHAN And CKO. Sow el dos Bouya wooded ob ay aoe 1,500 00 Estimated cost of necessary portion of building at Edgewood Beach for shelter; for letting of bathing suits, and sale of refreshments . 7,000 00 Estimated cost of cutting path and building small dam at Ten Mile River Reservation to make the park usable.................. 1,000 00 Estimated cost of necessary fire lanes and removal of inflammable material, Lincoln Woods—finishing connecting link across dam. 3,000 O00 Estimated cost of incidentals, supervision, engineering, landscape EY GR Att0) tee aE Re oie retains Sican tea menennas coro A Bigs att 4 4,000 00 Estimated cost of finishing Barrington Parkway....... ..-.-.--. 26,906 36 $62,506 36 Cashion handlers. 6 cestades cites eee ital SARI Greet Oia 17,027 67 $45,478 69 For all the above expenditures there is either a very definite and evident obligation, or the public need is such as to demand con- tinuation of the work without unnecessary delay. The estimate has been carefully made, and it allows no margin upon any of the items for contingencies, or for any improvement of lands that may be donated. An annual appropriation for the general administration expenses is necessary because the bond issue provides Annual only for expenditures made in connection with Appropriation. — the purchase and development of the reserva- tions; 7. e., permanent expenditures. In the REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. 17 earliest days of the Commission the expenses for so-called “ prelimi- nary investigation” of projects suggested, were necessarily large, but the results of the painstaking study of the great subject in hand are already manifest, and may be compared with satisfaction and pride to any similar ones obtained for a like expenditure, in any other community of which the Commission has knowledge. Your Com- mission has also secured much additional data by which the wisdom of any proposed new work may be now intelligently considered. The small item of $917.21 represents the cost of such investigation during the year just closed. But while such expense has been diminishing, the cost of administration and maintenance made necessary by the opening and by the unexpectedly large use of the reservations, has been increasing, and must continue to do so in proportion as these parklands demonstrate their usefulness in min- istering to the public welfare and happiness. The appropriation of $7,500 granted last year is entirely inadequate for these purposes. The Commission, therefore, respectfully request that the amount of this ‘Special Appropriation” be made at least $10,000 for the en- suing year, and respectfully submit that they could use a larger sum in ways they consider of much advantage to the people. Wuy ANOTHER Bonp IssuE 18 NECESSARY. Neither the officers of the Commission nor their expert advisers have discovered any cause for modifying their opinions as to the im- portance of the projects hitherto proposed as essential additions to the list of parks already acquired, and it is for these that another bond issue in 1912 is earnestly desired. Your Commissioners believe that the proposed reservations in the north end of Providence, and in the Fruit Hill Very Essential section of Providence and North Providence, Projects. are fully justified by public need and by economic considerations, and they realize that the latter project is especially pressing at this particular time. They note with deep regret and much apprehension the fast increasing 18 REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. difficulties of extending a proper drive down along the west shore below Pawtuxet and fear that the last remaining chance for an adequate waterside park on this side of Narragansett Bay will soon be taken away. They see in the Pawtuxet River and in the Ten Mile River great natural assets that are carelessly regarded, though enthusiastically enjoyed so long as they are available to the people, but destined unless public action is taken, to be included very soon in the catalogue of lost opportunities. Mashapaug and Spectacle Ponds and the Pocasset River may still be saved, though they threaten soon to become places of nuisance rather than of delight to their neighbors. No serious injury has been wrought to Neutaconkanut Hill, but the eastern edge of the Upper Seekonk basin must soon be provided for, if we would preserve the remaining vestiges of its former attractiveness and have it escape the odious condition of the waterfront south of Red Bridge. This is enormously important to the development of great areas in Pawtucket and East Providence and of scarcely less value to Providence as well. It is very certain that most of these appeal for immediate action. The potent arguments for the proposed Met- Need Our Immediate ropolitan reservations at all these places have Attention. been fully set forth in preceding reports, and must be too obvious to any thoughtful citizen who considers the inevitable or already existing conditions, to require restatement. We are dealing with the salvation and continued enjoyment of great resources that have been provided by nature for a particularly favored district. Their utter annihilation cannot be regarded with indifference or tolerance in this age when the conservation of natural resources is coming to be recognized as among the first laws of citizenship. It will be recalled that soon after the first reeommendations for a comprehensive reservation plan were submitted ‘Essential List’? to the General Assembly in obedience to the Half Done. legislative report on such a project, the total presentation of all the various enterprises that REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. 19 had been suggested or considered was divided into three parts, representing relative degrees of desirability or urgency. The first class enumerated comprised what was called the “Essential List,”’ the cost of which, after due and careful consideration, was estimated at about $500,000. For beginning work, an appropriation of $250,000, as requested by the Commission, was voted by the General Assembly in 1907, after its approval by the voters at the preceding general election. With this money the land for five of the reservations named in the “Essential List” has been bought and improved as elsewhere described. The other proposed reservations in the same list are no less important and the Commission deeply regret that they are still unprovided for. They are convinced that no purpose of economy can be secured by delay and that the delay already suffered has resulted in increased cost or decreased advantage. Yet they believe that by an expenditure of $250,000, for which a bond issue was first requested two years ago and the request for which is now repeated, very valuable results may be obtained. Moreover, it will accomplish a very essential object in making the distribution of the Metropolitan Parks and other public reservations so much more uniform and equitable throughout the district, that all of the citizens thereof may share fully in the advantages afforded, and enjoy an equality of benefit. Although this bond issue would not by any means do all the work that might at this time be wisely undertaken, it would, at any rate, satisfy the most obvious and insistent need and at the same time protect certain features that require development for park purposes, from waste, spoilation, and growingly exhorbitant cost. The Com- mission are convinced that a great need exists for the rapid prosecu- tion of their work and that great waste and ultimate disaster would result from unnecessary delay. Great opportunities have already been wasted. Existing opportunities will speedily disappear. The work of reclamation and attempted restoration will be beset by more and more discouragements. 20 REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. We cannot doubt that a work which is vital to the prosperity and well being of three-quarters of the people of Vital to Whole Rhode Island, is a very appropriate concern of State. the State as a whole. Every part of the State is ultimately related to every other part, and the mutual obligation is demonstrated by the hearty support on the part of the cities for the new State roads and the rural schools in outlaying towns. The same mutual obligation must be recognized in this not less important enterprise, affecting the citizenship and prosperity of the more populous communities. A very vital responsibility rests jointly upon this Commission and upon the State, by which they have been A Joint appointed to their task. A wise constructive Responsibility. policy, consistently and diligently followed through many years to come, must preserve to our children and‘to the children of all future generations, their rightful heritage of health and comfortable living. If we of the present age are not to be regarded by our followers with well deserved contempt and scorn, we must recognize the solemn obligation to provide not only for immediate needs, but to so conserve and develop our splendid Metropolitan district that it may adequately minister to the future requirements of a prosperous and happy people, that all future ages may share the benefits with the present one. And having accepted their share of this work with enthusiasm and devotion, guided by the best expert advice that the country can furnish to an enterprise of this kind, and themselves desiring no other reward than that which comes from public service, well performed, your Commission confidently request the assistance of the people and of the representatives of the people in the General Assembly. They would, therefore, summarize their present requests as follows: First, that the sum of $45,000, Financial necessary for finishing projects now under way Recommendations. or for which some pressing obligation exists, be made available without delay. Second, that REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. oN permissive legislation be enacted by which the electors of the State may vote at the next general election upon a second bond issue of $250,000 for the most needed projects of their ‘‘Essential List.” Third, that a necessary appropriation of $10,000 be granted for the maintenance and operation of existing reservations and for those general expenses that a bond issue does not cover. All of which is respectfully submitted. For the Metropolitan Park Commission, FENNER H. PECKHAM, President. HENRY A. BARKER, Secretary. At the annual meeting of the Metropolitan Park Commission held February 9, 1911, all the foregoing requests and recommendations were after full consideration, severally adopted by unanimous vote, and the Executive Committee were directed to present them, on behalf of the Commission, to the General Assembly, in their annual report for the year 1910. a REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. EssENTIAL ProgEcTs Now UNpRovIDED For, WuHicH ANOTHER Bonp IssuE WiLL SECURE. The preceding report of the Commission, presented to the General Assembly in 1910, furnished brief description of the several projects which it was proposed to undertake with funds desired from a second bond issue. It is unnecessary, therefore, at this time, to repeat the especial reasons for placing each one of them among the enterprises that are considered essential. Suffice it to say that the present Commission of 1911, like its predecessors, has, by unanimous vote at its annual meeting, renewed its earnest recommendation for the needed appropriation of $250,000. Since the purpose of this appropriation has not altered, though its necessity grows more urgent day by day, the following statements may properly be reiterated: “These reservations are all essential parts of the future park sys- tem, and if properly utilized will, for all time, remain among the most valuable of the natural resources of the Metropolitan Park District. “Probably no other great community in America contains natural assets that may be preserved and developed so economically, and made to contribute so much to the character and general welfare, recreation, and public health, at so little expense. “On the other hand, most of these places present the serious menace of future slums and sanitary problems. Every month sees their intelligent aequirement beset by new obstacles and increased cost, and brings them nearer to degradation and defilement. Only by timely action can we escape very burdensome conditions and an economic loss that makes the present expense of utilizing them for better purposes very trivial by comparison. “For financial reasons alone, this community cannot afford not to make certain public reservations in locations like these, and the pro- jects on this list are believed by our expert professional advisers to be the ones that require the most speedy attention. REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. 2 “The appropriation called for will accomplish the more essential parts of the various undertakings mentioned, where the most con- spicuous results may be obtained for the least expenditure, and where the penalty of delay threatens to be most severe.”’ The list is as follows: Narragansett Parkway, on west shore, and a proposed “Rock Island Park,” south of Pawtuxet on Narragansett Bay. A park in the Wanskuck district, in the north end of Providence. Fruit Hill Parkway and connections by Violet Hill to Merino avenue, and to the Fruit Hill section. Pawtuxet River, “Section A.” Mashapaug and Spectacle Ponds, “Section A.” Seekonk River, east shore of Upper Basin, between Ingrahamville Point, Pawtucket, and Red Bridge. Pocasset River, “Section A.” Neutaconkanut Hill, a portion. Valley Falls Pond, “Section A,” at northern edge of Central Falls. The proposed Narragansett Parkway, which would give to the west shore somewhat similar benefits to those provided by the Bar- rington Parkway upon the east shore, is described on page 76 of last year’s report. The other proposed reservations are discussed upon pages 101 to 107, inclusive, and upon pages 126 and 127. DONATIONS PROMISED. The officers of the Commission have been informed that several very valuable donations by individual citizens or groups of citizens, await favorable action upon an assurance of financial support for the Metropolitan Park project. Included in these are playgrounds and waterside parks and valuable connecting links that must be preserved to public use now or never. The whole district is in a stage of rapid transition and practically all such places are on the eve of their destruction, or removal from any future consideration as public assets. LIBRARY OF c inn 24 REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK warns. --~ Private generosity and forethought stands ready to co-operate with public appreciation and support, and merely for some assurance that they will be maintained and properly administered, the State may become possessed of treasures that possess great intrinsic value, to be devoted to the public welfare, and endure forever as monuments to their loyal contributors. Surely it is but reasonable that the greatest possible encouragement be offered to so patriotic an impulse.