Bicentennial Park started out as the Campbell Tract at about 5,000 acres. Since then, it has been carved up for variety of uses. Each incursion, viewed by itself, could seem small. Cumulatively, it adds up to a big part of the park.
If an organization wants exclusive rights to part of the Park, it should be able to show that there is a strong public need.
Total Acreage of Bicentennial Park and Acreage Withdrawn
| Original Campbell Tract | 5,000 |
|
| Area Withdrawn from the Park | ||
| Municipality of Anchorage Facilities | ||
| Water Storage | 10 |
|
| Well Site | 5 |
|
| National Guard | 30 |
|
| Communications Site | 13 |
|
| Dept of public Safety/DOT | 40 |
|
| BLM Retained | 730 |
|
| Anchorage Botanical Gardens | ?? | |
| SAVE II School | ?? | |
| Anchorage Police | ?? | |
| Animal Control Center | ?? | |
| Estimated total for these: | 200 |
|
| Hilltop Ski Area with Ski Jumps | 200 |
|
| Total Withdrawn | 1227.5 |
|
| Percent Withdrawn | 24.6% |
From Jim Barr on December 30, 2001 regarding the Simonian Little League's plans to clear 25 acres in Bicentennial Park.
The primary offender in this area is the "fact" that
Bicentennial Park is
4000 acres in size, and the Ball Field site is only 25 acres of
land that is
no different from the remaining 3975 acres. This
information is absolutely
incorrect!
Bicentennial Park is approximately 2600 acres in size;
approximately 1200
acres of that are class A wetlands, and 1400 acres are
uplands. Most of the
upland acreage is found on steep hillsides (like Hilltop Ski
Area). Of the
1400 upland acres, approximately 90 (yes, just ninety) of them
are level, and
only about 45 of those are accessible by road. This is a
measurement of
uplands in tracts of one acre or greater. Most of the level
(developable)
uplands were retained by the MOA as PLI land, currently in the
Heritage
Land Bank, and were never placed into the park; or were retained
by BLM. *
A quick look at these numbers shows that the 25 acres in the
Southwest
corner of Bicentennial Park are indeed unique. They
comprise over half of
all the currently accessible level uplands, and almost 30% of the
total
within the park boundaries. Additionally, these twenty five
acres make up
nearly 100% of the accessible level uplands in the entire
southern half of
the park, except for those already developed at the base of
Hilltop.
The original Campbell Tract contained approximately 4,260 acres,
some of
which was retained by BLM, some of which was retained by the
State, some of
which is held in the Heritage Land Bank as PLI land (such as that
used for
the Police Station, Animal Control, and the Chuck Albrecht
Softball Fields),
and some of which became Bicentennial Park.
The claim that the area under consideration is just another
unremarkable 25
acres out of 4000 acres of the same is grossly inaccurate.
"How do we use land within Bicentennial Park to meet needs
for developed
sports fields and complexes?" is a valid question, but one
that should be
answered as part of an overall update to the park Master Plan
(including
negotiations with BLM), and not handled piece-meal to deal with a
single
pressing requirement. The issue is complex, the information
is complex, and
inaccurate information and emotional arguments abound
* Data obtained from the following sources: US
Geological Survey, 7.5
minute topographic Quadrangle Anchorage (A-8) NE; Anchorage
Wetlands
Management Plan and associated wetlands maps (1996), Far North
Bicentennial
Park Master Plan (1985), Public Law 94-204 section 12(d)(2).
Get on our email list.Click Here!