THE FIEST $1,000,000 



103 



boundary of the park be at the old Bloomfield road. At the 

 meeting of December 2, this resolution was offered: that 

 "all speeches be limited to five minutes, and only two 

 speeches be permitted from the same person." An amend- 

 ment to the main resolution that "the territory between 

 Bloomfield avenue and Fredonia avenue be treated as a I 

 parkway/' was lost — 2 ayes, 3 nays; likewise by the same 

 vote an amendment providing that the cost of land in the 

 property extension should "not exceed $150,000.'' This 

 130-acre tract, estimated to cost $160,000, was thereupon 

 added to what seemed then, and has since proven, an al- 

 ready heavily ballasted financial load; although the re- 

 deemed land and the present attractive features of the 

 northern section of the Branch Brook Park of to-day afford 

 some compensation alike to the public and those responsible 

 for the accession. 



The financial part of this undertaking kept full pace 

 with, or quite outran, the acreage accumulations. The es- 

 timated cost of $361,685 of June, 1895, had, at the close of 

 1896, mounted to an actual cash expenditure for land alone 

 of $850,687; and a year later to $1,129,086, or nearly one- 

 half of the entire county park appropriation for this one 

 park of 278 acres. There were very many buildings ac- 

 quired with the land purchased, -especially in the portions 

 of the park south of Fifth avenue ; but these, mostly inex- 

 pensive residences, realized but little. At an auction sale on 

 April twenty-fifth, these houses were disposed of at from a 

 few dollars to a few hundred dollars each, and the costly 

 experience of making public parks from improved city lot 

 property was again exemplified. Only about $16,000 was 

 realized from the buildings in this park, that had cost more 

 than $500,000. 



HUEEYIITG THE IMPROVEMEJTTS. 



Concurrently with the consideration of park sites came 

 the question of beginning park development. All the com- 

 missioners were anxious that the practical work of improve- 

 ment should proceed. The public reflected this sentiment 



