South End Residents Demand Park Board Probe
The South End Improvement Club initiates an inquiry into allegations of graft and the mistreatment of Point Defiance Park.
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A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Matters in the park board are to be investigated by the South End Improvement club. Rumors have been flying around among the improvement clubs of the city for some time that certain men in the board are running things with a high hand. Last night, the South Side club appointed a committee consisting of H. O. Scott, O. L. Fowler, and Mr. Klemp and ordered them to dig into the matter and see if anything is wrong. It was hinted that one of the members of the board has been selling his own horses to the park board and that Point Defiance park is being despoiled of its natural scenery and fixed up as a man-made affair. The committee will also probably take up the proposition of having the city acquire Wapato lake and surrounding ground for a city park.
“Rumors have been flying around among the improvement clubs of the city for some time that certain men in the board are running things with a high hand.”
Tacoma's community clubs still serve as critical watchdogs for public land and municipal ethics. The concern over Point Defiance's 'natural scenery' versus 'man-made' development remains a recurring theme in the city's relationship with its crown jewel park.
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