REPORT. 



The Committee to whom was referred the communication of 

 Messrs. Edmund Driggs, John W. Hunter, Charles Jones, Win, W. 

 Goodrich and J. Carson Brevoort, under date of May 22d, 1869, by 

 which they offer to improve so much of Prospect Park as lies east 

 of Flatbush avenue, at a cost of $775,000, under the engineering of 

 Mr. Egbert L. Viele, or some equally competent engineer, according 

 to a plan which was suggested by Mr. Viele, in I860, resj>ectfully 

 report : 



That there seem to be many obvious reasons why the board 

 should not accept this proposal. 



In the first place, it is to be executed under the supervision of 

 gentlemen who have not yet been appointed Commissioners, and 

 without regard to the fact that there is already a Board of Improve- 

 ment Commissioners, who must continue to discharge their duties 

 until their successors in office are appointed. Next, they in effect 

 designate Mr. Viele as engineer ; but the board is not yet prepared, 

 we think, to substitute him in place of the skillful and experienced 

 engineers who are now in charge of park improvement. And fur- 

 thermore, they propose to improve the land according to Mr. Viele's 

 plan — a plan which is not in harmony with the present park design, 

 and which has not been adopted by the board, nor approved of by 

 the people. 



There are other serious objections to the proposition of these 

 gentlemen. They evidently require too much money for the work 

 they propose to do. The board's estimate of the cost of improving 

 the east side of the park, as stated at the public meeting of citizens 

 in April last, to which their communication refers, was one million 

 of dollars, and not from one and a half to two millions, as stated in 

 the proposal. It also included two bridges and the necessary fencing, 

 with all such other equipments as are required for a place of public 

 resort ; while their estimate includes no fence, and only one bridge 

 with a tunnel. If we add the cost of an enclosure with an additional 

 bridge, their offer will be carried up from $775,000 to over a million. 

 But while the committee think the charge is too high, they are pleased 



