acquired. The Chamber of Commerce, at a meeting held September 27, 1904, enthusiasti- 

 cally approved the entire scheme, and I think I may say that the progress is most gratifying." 



Cleveland's Group Plan establishes an entranceway to the city which for dignity 

 and beauty will hardly be surpassed in any city in the world. Only a portion of 

 the expense can be charged against the Group Plan. If there were no such plan the 

 necessity would still exist for the purchase of sites for and erection of many buildings. 



In addition to this, it must be borne in mind that without the Group Plan 

 more costly building sites would certainly have been selected than have now been 

 secured. Therefore, the net cost of the Group Plan is represented by the estimates 

 for the land and improvement of the mall, $3,374,780. This is less than 25 per 

 cent of the cost of the public buildings that will face it. Should we, however, 

 include other buildings that will face the mall, the cost of the splendid setting will 

 fall to 15 per cent, or perhaps even 10 per cent, of the total expenditure. 



The citizens of Cleveland may well regard the cost of the Group Plan as small 

 in comparison with the permanent advantage of possessing such a civic center. 

 Nor will the returns on the investment be merely beauty and civic pride. There 

 will be a great increase in the value of surrounding property, and a consequent increase 

 in the amount of taxes collected. And, beyond all monetary considerations, the 

 city must derive large benefits from its foresight in paving the way to what, but a 

 few years hence, may correspond favorably with those wonderful and beautiful archi- 

 tectural effects in European capitals that command the admiration of the world. 



THE PARK SYSTEM 



Cleveland is acquiring an outer park system that is shown in part upon the 

 map. Though not great in acreage, it is so wisely planned as to produce an 

 impression far beyond its actual area. It will be noted that its present encircling 

 park system extends about one-quarter of the way around the city. Under date of 

 February 2, 1 905, the Chief Engineer of Parks wrote: 



"We have six miles of parkway constructed. These parkways vary in width from 300 

 to 1,200 feet, according to the lay of the land. We intend to start this summer securing 

 land for a parkway between Edgewater and Brookside Parks, and also between Ambler and 



Woodland Hills Parks It will probably be several years before the system as 



planned is completed. To complete the girdle of parkways around the city will require 

 the construction of sixteen miles of additional parkways." 



The city now has 1,524 acres of park land, of which no less than 676 acres 

 have been donated. A finer monument, a nobler philanthropy, than such a bene- 

 faction cannot be devised. 



For further information about the Cleveland Group System, apply to Arnold W. Brunner, 33 

 Union Square West, New York City. 



For further information upon the Park System, apply to W. A. Stinchcomb, Chief Engineer of 

 Parks, Cleveland, Ohio. 



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