March 22, 1961: Hebron Club Looking For Site For Park

Originally published in The Vidette-Messenger of Porter County on March 22, 1961.

Hebron Club Looking For Site For Park

VIEW HEBRON PARK SITE ー Hebron Junior Women’s club park committee inspect seven acre site, just south of Hebron city limits on Ind. 53, for possible establishment of a park for the town of Hebron. Members of committee at site, from left: Mrs. Herbert Wilson, chairman; Mrs. William Mullins and Mrs. Robert Thompson. Project plans include town’s first public swimming pool.

HEBRONーMembers of the Hebron Junior Woman’s club have been considering and viewing several sites for establishment of a public park.

Mrs. Herbert Wilson, chairman of the club’s park committee with Mrs. William Mullins and Mrs, Robert Thompson, inspected a seven-acre tract, just south of the Hebron city limits, on Ind. 53, Tuesday.

The club plans to purchase a site and aid the town in developing the tract as a swimming, recreational and picnic area.

Want Pool

“We have always wanted a swimming pool,” said Mrs. Wilson, “and this is the only way we are going to get one.”

Members of the committee indicated that drainage of the seven-acre-site will have to be tested. They also expressed anxiety over a ditch which splits the site.

Mrs. Wilson said it is the hope of the committee to secure financial aid for the project from other Hebron organizations and interested citizens.

A tentative promotional plan includes sale of “One-Inch Square Plots” to buyers.

Hebron currently has a small town park near the Methodist church.

Dec. 15, 1970: County Park Board Primary Objective

Originally published in The Vidette-Messenger of Porter County on December 15, 1970.

County Park Board Primary Objective

Primary objective of the Porter County Open Spaces Committee is creation of a Porter County Board of Parks and Recreation. The committee’s recent seminar was organized not only to demonstrate the need for open spaces, but to show how they can best be obtained.

Once the questions of moral imperatives, future necessity and shortage of time were discussed, the seminar turned to questions concerning county park boards. Only one potential problem remainedーthat of state parks.

To answer the questions of whether state parks could effectively provide Indiana and Porter County citizens with open spaces, David Griffith, area supervisor of Northern Indiana Parks, was asked to speak at the seminar.

State parks are not a duplication of city and municipal parks, said Griffith. “State parks utilize the natural features of parks for nature study, trails and specified recreation opportunities. Our main consideration is to maintain and protect the natural beauty and features of our parks. We use them for recreation only in compliance with these natural features.”

Griffith said that in any given park, two-thirds of it would be left natural and not used for recreation, except perhaps nature study. In addition, between 40 and 60 percent of the people who use Dunes State Park are out of state residents.

Griffith said Indiana is short of needed recreational facilities such as campsites and picnic tables. “We can only supplement the national, county and municipal levels.”

Discussing the function of the county park department was Bill Beech, area extension agent at Purdue University.

Beech said the 1965 Recreation Act provides a simple method for establishing county parks boards. The county council passes an ordinance establishing a county park district. The circuit court judge then appoints a county park board that must be impartial politically and may have a county extension agent and school board official ex officio.

The board, said Beech, has several specified functions. Board members must do the planning, which said Beech, “should be done by professional planners.” They have power for the acquisition and development of land. They may hire personnel, accept gifts for the park district and issue bonds. They have the power of eminent domain and they must cooperate with other units of government, especially the county council, from whom they receive their operating money.

Beech said the problem of bonds “worries some people” because the board is not an elected body. “But our experience has been that the elected officials have to approve the bonds before they are sold. We have had one experience where a park board tried to sell bonds without the approval of the elected officials and they could not get them sold.”

Beech added that most counties get started with gifts and matching funds from state and federal agencies. “But it will cost you some money. If you don’t think open spaces are important enough to spend some money, you had better forget it.”

Also tackling the problem of money was Kenneth Harris, an extension agent in water resources with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

Harris stated that he too did not think that the burden should fall on the property owner alone. Jokingly, he added, “There is only one good tax, the one the other guy pays.”

Harris then outlined several ways parks could be obtained at a minimum cost to the taxpayer. He considered gifts one of the most valuable ways of obtaining parks. He noted that many of the state parks were originally gifts and gave several examples of how county park systems were started with gifts. But, he noted a county park system is necessary for a county to accept land for a park as a gift.

Another way county park systems can obtain land for parks is through cumulative funds. That is, a small tax is levied and money from the tax is allowed to build over a period of years.

State and federal funds are also available, said Harris, but again a county park system is needed to qualify. Indiana has funds available under the watershed funds act and ASCS payments can be used for purchasing open spaces.”

From the federal government, there is money available from HUD and through the Farmer’s Home Administration.

Harris cautioned seminar participants to use care in financing a county park board. “Those counties who try to do it all by themselves are asking for trouble. But those counties who take every handout the government offers without planning adequately are also asking for trouble.”

Harris suggested that every county considering a county park system should take inventory of what they have, carefully sort out all facts concerning the project, determine a set of alternatives based on the facts and take into consideration the consequences of the alternatives.

In the final analysis, said Harris, “it is the county officials who must take action.”

Oct. 6, 1960: Park Board to Buy Lake Area

Originally published in The Vidette-Messenger of Porter County on October 6, 1960.

PARK BOARD TO BUY LAKE AREA

Year-Round Recreation Spot Planned

By ROLLIE BERNHART

A unanimous decision to purchase an 85-acre tract of land and lakes north of the city for a year-round recreational center was announced today by the Valparaiso Park District board.

Park Board President Thomas Carlin said today the board plans to go ahead with the purchase of the tract at Spectacle and Loomis lakes, formerly known as Knapp’s Landing, located on North Campbell road about 1.7 miles from the city limits.

According to a brochure prepared by the park board, purchase price of the land, current improvements and much equipment has been set by owner and civic leader Atty. James W. Chester at $75,000.

Below Land Values

Of this amount, cost of the land is $58,000, unanimously felt by the board as an excellent opportunity to purchase the 85-acre tract at a figure far below current land values in Valparaiso and Porter County.

Included in the $75,000 cost figure to the Park District is a 7-room caretaker’s home on which $6,000 had been previously spent for repairs and remodeling, pier and boat house, boats, picnic tables, tractor and mower, and a list of general improvements.

According to records available in the courthouse and office of the owner, Chester’s total investment to date, including interest on the land is an estimated $80,000.

These figures plus a desire to provide citizens of Valparaiso with full access to lakes heretofore denied them for many years prompted the board to decide favorably on the project.

Rolling Land

Located approximately three and one-half miles from downtown Valparaiso, approximately 50 acres of the site are rolling timber land. Remaining 35 acres are water comprising Spectacle Lake and the major portion of Loomis Lake.

Character of the area is such that it lends itself to swimming, fishing, boating, picnics, camping, family recreation during the summer, and ice skating and tobogganing in the winter.

Carlin expressed the unanimous feeling of the entire board when he said today, “All members of the board are very much enthused over the project. It is in the rough now, but we hope to make it very acceptable with funds available now and an even more outstanding recreational area for our citizens as we look ahead five or 10 years.”

Fishing Area

During the past three years the site has been used as an informal recreation area, attracting many fishermen, group and family picnics without any publicity. According to the brochure, records indicate that during the past two years revenue received from present facilities has averaged $75 per week during the summer months.

Another issue which provided impetus to the board’s decision was a phrase heard from the lips of many an interested and civic minded citizen: “What a shame the city did not acquire Sager’s Lake when that area was offered for $35,000 about 32 years ago.”

This challenge, plus the comparatively small differential between the two land and lake costs then and now, an opportunity to acquire larger and more adequate facilities, the easy accessibility from Valparaiso to the Spectacle-Loomis lakes area resulted in the board’s decision to go ahead with the project, it was noted today.

Raymond Harbey, former park president and veteran member of the board, said today, “We are primarly interested because it will provide Valparaiso with something it does not currently have, that is public access to a lake. The opportunity is now. It might be the last chance Valparaiso would have to procure this public access plus such an outstanding acreage of land for recreation of all kinds.” Board members Bruce Zimmerman and Alan Lippman have voiced similar opinions.

The board will finance the project through sale of park district bonds. According to a chart in the brochure, based on the original disbursement to be retired in 20 years, the present city park district rate of 12 cents would be increased four cents starting with year 1962.

Long Study

City Park Supt. Harold Rogers said today the project had been under speculation for three years, and has been under serious discussion since last February.

Currently Knapp’s Landing has a pier which will need widening; present boats will be used with more to be purchased; fencing will be installed across Spectical lake channel on east side of Campbell road, a 200 foot sandy swimming beach on west bank of Loomis lake will be one of initial items plus a general cleanup of land for picnics and parking. Rogers estimated the complete development to a status to compare with LaPorte’s Stone lake, would be done over a 10-year period.

 Self-Supporting

Rogers also said the board is scheduled to meet in the near future to discuss with an experienced park planner initial development plans more fully and iron out problems on how to make the park self-supporting.

Rogers said the park board Monday passed a determining resolution to buy the site. A petition will be circulated before the board will pass a confirming resolution and go ahead with bids on amount of bonds to be sold.

It was also noted today that the park board, which has always worked in close cooperation with the city administration, received the blessing of the City Council on the project Monday.

Councilman Robert L. Miller said today the matter had been discussed informally among members of the City Council and there seemed to be no opposition to the plan.