Neighbors Will Envy Eagan's Park in Future

To the editor:

I can't help but feel mystified by a need to "save Patrick Eagan Park." Years ago, this land was saved as a nature preserve, and now we need to save it again?

I can't help but feel this is some wickedly crass joke being perpetrated on the residents of Eagan by the mayor and some members of City Council. In case they happen to be reading this, it has never been acceptable to destroy a nature preserve and turn it into a golf course. Never. I would be surprised if it has happened anywhere in the country more than a few tragic times.

One of the reasons that it offends me so very much is that it is a big take-away of every resident's rights. As the park stands at this moment, anyone can use it and come away with whatever experience they choose. Regardless of whether or not you even like a nature park, you at least have the right to go there. Destroy it and create a golf course, and you have to play golf to enjoy it.

Since when do the rights of people who enjoy golf supercede those of the rest of us? And by what authority do the mayor or City Council think they have a right to change this?

When Eagan parks were being planned 30 years ago, diversity of usage was a key element to the plan. Patrick Eagan Park is our only nature preserve. If it's destroyed by turning the land into a golf course, there is no other property in the city to create another nature park. This is it.

Fifty years from now, in a far more urbanized landscape, this gem of natural habitat will be the envy of neighboring cities, and the history of city government admired for the foresight it took to preserve it. A new golf course will be just another golf course. They're everywhere. Places like this are disappearing all too frequently.

Demand that Patrick Eagan Park be left alone.

Andrew Smith
Eagan