PARK FINANCING 479 



of properties in Minneapolis. The following are examples of the working 

 of the plan: 1 



Sibley Field, when acquired, was a rank hole in the ground, a dump, 

 situated in the south section of Minneapolis, the closest playground being 

 about a mile from this location. There was one house on the two city 

 blocks (10 acres) in question and the territory was about half settled with 

 very modest and to a great extent, unattractive homes. Vacant lots sold 

 for $400 to $600. The people of the vicinity had petitioned that this piece 

 of property be acquired for park purposes and improved immediately, the 

 whole cost of the acquisition and improvement to be assessed against the 

 benefited district. The total cost of the acquisition was $23,000 and the 

 improvements, as estimated by the superintendent, amounted to $75,000. 

 The total cost was assessed against the benefited property in assessments 

 ranging from $100 down to $14.60 per forty-foot lot. The total area affected 

 was a little less than a mile and a half square. Lots around the park at the 

 present time are worth in the neighborhood of $1,000. The assessments 

 are collected in ten annual installments and, consequently, property facing 

 the park having an annual assessment of $10 with interest on deferred 

 payments, is seeing benefits from $300 to $500. The homes now being 

 erected in that neighborhood are necessarily of a much better character 

 than those which were built previously, and it is evident that the park has 

 had a very beneficial influence on that section of the city. 



The case of Chicago Avenue Field was a little different, although 

 before the acquisition most of the ten acres involved were considerably 

 below the street level. Its acquisition and improvement were carried on at 

 different times and it is safe to say that the acquisition alone carried with 

 it benefits in excess of the assessments which were levied, not because it 

 changed the appearance of the property, but because it fixed the destiny 

 of the area and consequently made it safe for the people to invest in good- 

 looking homes. This field was located in a good, substantial neighborhood 

 which was very anxious to get the field improved from a utility point of 

 view more than from the fact that the property values would increase. The 

 people of this neighborhood wanted a place in which their children could 

 play and enjoy recreational facilities and they were willing to pay for such 

 use; the anticipated rise in property values was only an incidental factor. 

 The improvement was completed the past year and the assessments levied 

 ranged from $120 to $20 per forty-foot lot over an area of about a square 

 mile or a little less. On one side of the park is a paved street carrying street 

 car tracks, and no more had the park been completed than four apartment 



1 Charles E. Doell, secretary of the Board of Park Commissioners, Minneapolis, Minnesota, in Parks and 

 Recreation, Vol. IX, No. i, September-October, 1925. 



