THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 4, 1996 TAG: 9602030109
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
If, as Wellington observed, the battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton, where are the great turning points in the history of Chesapeake to be decided?
The city, as it has grown, necessarily has concentrated most attention on mundane necessities - things like roads, water mains and sewer pipes - while parks, recreation and the arts have taken a lower priority.
The purchase last week of 225 acres in Deep Creek for baseball fields and other recreational facilities is a welcome sign that the neglected areas of public life are finally getting more consideration. The new acquisition raises to a little more than 1,400 acres the amount of land in the city devoted to recreational use - hardly enough for a city with a population approaching 200,000 active children and adults.
The City Council will soon turn its attention to a capital improvement budget that includes $1.9 million in additional parks and recreational facilities over the next five years. Chesapeake's continued maturation as a city depends heavily on its willingness to commit resources not only to those things that make life possible, but also to things that make life rich and full.
If, as Wellington observed, the battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton, where are the great turning points in the history of Chesapeake to be decided?
The city, as it has grown, necessarily has concentrated most attention on mundane necessities - things like roads, water mains and sewer pipes - while parks, recreation and the arts have taken a lower priority.
The purchase last week of 225 acres in Deep Creek for baseball fields and other recreational facilities is a welcome sign that the neglected areas of public life are finally getting more consideration. The new acquisition raises to a little more than 1,400 acres the amount of land in the city devoted to recreational use - hardly enough for a city with a population approaching 200,000 active children and adults.
The City Council will soon turn its attention to a capital improvement budget that includes $1.9 million in additional parks and recreational facilities over the next five years. Chesapeake's continued maturation as a city depends heavily on its willingness to commit resources not only to those things that make life possible, but also to things that make life rich and full. by CNB