Insult Added to Injury: The Continuing Saga of Jean Klock Park
A letter from Carol Drake, co-founder and Vice President of Friends of Jean Klock Park, explains the controversy from a citizen's point of view.
Only a week ago, a federal court denied a legal challenge to save 21 acres of public dunes and lakeshore in Jean Klock Park from golf course developers. Yesterday, a letter to the editor appeared in southwest Michigan's Herald Palladium newspaper protesting the fact that the remaining park is now closed to the public, too.
Jean Klock Park, in Benton Harbor, was donated to the city by John and Carrie Klock in 1917. It was named for their daughter, and came with the instruction that it be maintained in its natural state for other children to enjoy. The city, however, leased part of it for development into a private 3-hole golf course.
Whether 21 acres or 200, three holes or eighteen, this is conservation at its core; protecting public land in its natural state from private development. Unfortunately, elected and appointed officials at many levels of local, state, and federal government have let down the people of Benton Harbor.