78 



More than three-fourths of the whole amount awarded to 

 the proprietors has already been paid, but the difficulty of rais- 

 ing money at this particular juncture of public affairs has 

 again delayed the period when the Board can take that entire 

 control of the land which is necessary for laying out and im- 

 proving the Park. 



The Board hopes to obviate one cause of the delay by an 

 application to the Legislature, at its present session, to authorize 

 immediate action on the land, thus removing a restriction of no 

 real value to the owners, and which now only serves to protract 

 the commencement of operations, the importance of which can- 

 not be over-estimated. 



For these reasons, the Board can scarcely yet be said to 

 have entered upon any of the more active duties contemplated 

 by its appointment, nor has it, consequently, been able to lay 

 out an entire plan of improvement. For although the property, 

 as the awards are being paid, is gradually coming into the pos- 

 session of the Board, it is only as a whole that any plan of 

 improvement can be judiciously carried out. 



A considerable portion of the park property is found to be 

 encumbered with small — many of them dilapidated — buildings, 

 which the Board has concluded to sell. But there are several 

 good dwelling-houses, which may be advantageously rented 

 until the ground on which they stand shall be required for the 

 purposes of improvement. Among the small houses referred to, 

 quite a large number are occupied by mere trespassers on the 

 land, who are being quietly removed, and very soon the entire 

 premises will have been cleared of all objectionable features, 

 and fully prepared for the entrance of the landscape gardener. 



But notwithstanding the action of the Board has been thus 

 limited, the subject of improvement has occupied much of its 

 attention, and the Board will be prepared to adopt a general 

 plan of improvement as soon as circumstances will permit. One 

 of the prominent features of any plan that may be adopted, 

 must necessarily be a suitable approach to the main entrance, 

 which the Board hope to render especially attractive. The 

 subject of approaches is of much more importance than has 

 been generally supposed, and if left unstudied now, might re- 

 quire to be settled at some future time at great expense. The 

 Board is studious to avoid difficulties that have occurred in 



