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Show IN MY OPINION Legislator Answers Governor On State Park Development By CHARLES W. ROMNEY ""VUR FRIEND, Governor Lee, has indicated that he would " like to have the present site of the Utah State Prison sold, thus disregarding the wishes of the people as expressed by a bill passed during the 1947 session of the state Legislature Legisla-ture to create a state park on this land. Certainly the real estate interests would pay a substantial amount into the state treasury for this land; but would the people of Utah not lose much more than they would gain? Here is a tract of land located in the capitol city of the state easily accessible to all the people of the state where a beautiful beauti-ful educational memorial to our famous pioneers could be built. Thousands of tourists pass this land every day, hundreds of them would be attracted to the park and would likely visit many of our famous natural wonderlands because of the illustrations of them they would see in the proposed state park. These tourists would spend millions of dollars in the various communities of the state if they were thus induced to stay a day or two longer. v Then I wonder if the governor in his desire for economy has forgotten that there are such things as human values which are often more important than commercial values. Does the state's chief executive realize that Central Park in New-York New-York City could be sold for many billions of dollars? Yet the-wise the-wise city fathers of New York have never put this land up for sale because the social and general welfare that the ioni. . of the state of New York and the nation receive is far greater than any sum of money that could be paid for Central Park. The state of Utah could obtain a few thousand dollars for the old state prison- site, but I submit that the governor would do the state a great injustice if he does not recognize that the general welfare of all the people of Utah and the whole nation na-tion would be greatly benefited by a beautiful memorial built on this land to the pioneer fathers and mothers of a great people. |