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:
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REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION.
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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.
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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.