Lets Promote Parks and Recreation

By
Neil F. Hartigan
Lieutenant Governor State of Illinois

Lieutenant Governor Neil F. Hartigan called for a long range Illinois land acquisition plan for conservation and recreation purposes, and the establishment of a Parks and Recreation Academy.

Speaking to the Illinois Association of Park Districts at the Arlington Park Towers Hotel on May 12, Hartigan told the audience that primacy in priorities should be given to:

1. Preserving areas of scenic, ecological or archeological value.

2. Purchase of open space in and near our urban areas, and in areas where studies indicate that future urban growth is most likely.

3. Golf courses and farms threatened by development should receive the highest priority for purchase in urban areas since raw land is usually preferable to developed real estate, both from a point of view of economics and in human terms of displacement.

4. Special concern should be made to have sufficient camping facilities and roadside parks.

"We must have rational planning, both for the present and future," Hartigan said. "Over 100 years ago Olmstead planned the great parks of Chicago. Fifty years ago Governor Lowden acquired many of our state parks. In the administration of Governor Ogilvie, Goose Lake Prairie and Volo Bogg were saved for posterity. I am sure that the Walker administration under the leadership of the Director of Conservation, Anthony Dean, will make substantial contributions in land acquisition and park development, and it is my feeling," Hartigan said, "that we must now assess our present holdings and develop a rational plan for the future."

Hartigan also expanded on his concept for an Illinois Park and Recreation Academy, which he originally proposed to the Illinois Democratic Platform Committee in 1972. Hartigan said that this academy should be part of one of our major universities and should involve special programs, including:

1. Establishing undergraduate and graduate degrees in park management and recreation.

2. Providing training and retraining for career employees.

3. Cooperating with existing forestry wildlife management and landscape gardening programs already in existence.

4. Developing intern programs for academy students with state and municipal park systems.

5. Special training programs for park security including preventive patrol and aggressive prosecution.

6. Expansion of programs for leisure time activities for senior citizens and techniques in utilizing part time senior citizen employment.

"The Park and Recreation Academy," Hartigan said, "should offer comprehensive instruction with additional opportunity for specialization for all types of park systems."

"Recreation and outdoor activity will traditionally grow as our citizens have more leisure time," Hartigan said, "and we must develop opportunities for people to spend their time pleasurably whether they live in the cities or in small towns, whether they are young or elderly. Everybody should have the opportunity to live in a setting which offers proximity to the beauty and solitude of flowers, grass and trees."

Illinois Parks and Recreation 12 July/August, 1973