SIMONIAN LITTLE LEAGUE FIELDS - Letters published in the Anchorage Daily News
and other sources

This page is just a sample of the letters to the editor of the Anchorage Daily News. The ADN is very generous with publishing letters so the debate often unfolds in its pages. There have been others written that are not presented here. The goal is to show all sides of the issue. (Opinions from other sources are also included here.)

Attacks on Assembly are wrong; get involved and see hard work
(Published February 21, 2002)

Attacks on the Anchorage Assembly over ball fields and other recent issues are way off base. I've been involved in the Bicentennial Park issue for almost two years. When I started, I didn't think highly of our local government. Through this time, I have seen most members of the Assembly working very hard to find solutions to a complex problem and to respond to a deeply divided public.

I have seen a group of people who genuinely care about this city, who listen to the public and give a tremendous amount of their time and energy. I've also learned that issues are not as simple as they seem from the outside. It's a lot harder to solve a problem than it is to find fault with some else's solution. My view of local government has changed because of the positive efforts of our Assembly. They deserve our appreciation, not our criticism. Now, even when I don't agree with specific actions that they've taken, I can respect their efforts and their integrity.

-- Jim Barr
Anchorage

Environmentalists use ball fields to stop roads Abbott Loop wants
(Published February 21, 2002)

Thank you to Mike Doogan for "Inept Assembly members show mean streaks" (Feb. 15). Mike discussed the "mean-spirited" attitude of the Assembly regarding the Bicentennial Park development and quoted Assemblywoman Janice Shamberg as saying, "this whole matter is NOT about ball fields, children or trees. It's about roads." The environmentalist community is afraid that if we allow part of Bicentennial Park open to ball fields, the park will then open to other development, i.e., new roads. This same group is attempting to use ball fields and children to block development, as they do not want the Bragraw Street-Abbott Loop-Elmore Road-Dowling Road expansion and extension.

These are different issues, but if they are to be combined then recent survey results should be noted. In March 2001 our council mailed a survey in the Abbott Loop area and received about 350 responses. Seventy-one percent of respondents favored construction of Bragaw from Dowling and Abbott Loop to Tudor. And 47.75 percent favored the ball fields in Bicentennial Park, while 40.5 percent were against. Complete survey results can be obtained from Al Tamagni Sr., president of the Abbott Loop Council at the Federation of Community Councils. The Assembly should review the survey to better serve the desires of people in this area that includes ball fields and the Bragaw Extension.

-- Barbara Bean
Abbott Loop Community Council Board Member
Anchorage

Assembly represents many who oppose park development
(Published February 21, 2002)

Why does Mike Doogan make it seem like the only eight people in the city opposed to putting ball fields and parking lots in Far North Bicentennial Park are the Assembly members who voted against it? Those eight Assembly members represent many people who are vehemently opposed to the development of that park. I oppose any development within the park, and I thank my Assembly representative, Allan Tesche, for standing up for a municipal park that is very important to me.

We have a limited amount of accessible undeveloped park land within the Anchorage Bowl. If every proposal for the park had been built over the years, there would be no park. Sadly, that would probably suit the mayor just fine.

-- Valerie Brown
Anchorage

Even cheechakos like Wuerch could be better informed about park
(Published February 21, 2002)

Frank Gerjevic's NOTEBOOK, "No conspiracy" (Feb. 16) says that Mayor Wuerch gave his view that "Far North Bicentennial Park was never intended to be a wilderness park, but a multiuse park." Mr. Wuerch, a relative newcomer to Anchorage, might be excused for his personal ignorance about the plans for this park.

But as mayor of Anchorage, he should at least read the original 1974 and updated 1985 Park Master Plans instead of offering his uninformed opinions about the park's purposes. The arguments against placing the Simonian ball fields in an undeveloped part of the park are good evidence of what the original intentions for the park were.

It will take an amendment of the 1985 plan to put the ball fields where the Simonians want to build them. Thus the obvious intention of the 1985 plan (and the 1974 plan before it) was to not clear and develop wild, natural parts of the park for developed recreation facilities, but instead to place these facilities in those areas of the park that had already been developed, cleared and otherwise changed from their natural character.

I'm sure that even cheechakos like the mayor could become better informed about the original intentions for Far North Bicentennial Park.

-- T. E. Meacham
Anchorage

Trailside Discovery celebrates 20 ball-field-free years at Bicentennial
(Published February 21, 2002)

Counting salmon in Campbell Creek. Learning to appreciate and understand the natural environment while making new friends. Gaining a sense of wonder that will last a lifetime. These are a few of the adventures over 1,000 children experienced last summer while attending Trailside Discovery Environmental Education Camp at the Campbell Creek Science Center on the Campbell Tract.

Trailside Discovery is celebrating its 20th year serving Anchorage children ages 4-17.

This past summer we served youth from South Anchorage, Mountain View, Fairview, Muldoon, Eagle River and all corners of Anchorage. We offered scholarships and partnered with the ARC of Anchorage and Partners in Homeless Education to provide children with special needs an inclusive experience.

Placing a ball field in Far North Bicentennial Park is troubling. We use the proposed ball field area daily as natural classrooms. The argument that we have a vast untapped area of land for use is misleading. Some children have needs that are very difficult to meet if there is only remote access. To build the ball fields would take away a valuable resource that is easily accessible to the children we serve.

There are alternative locations for ball fields. Please support a location for the fields that would not inhibit current use of the area.

-- Thomas Burek
Director, Trailside Discovery
Anchorage

Ruth Arcand park is best solution to need for more ball fields
(Published February 19, 2002)

Thank you to the Assembly for supporting Allan Tesche's proposal to put the Simonian ball fields somewhere other than Bicentennial Park.

I am an equestrian user of Ruth Arcand and Bicentennial Park, and I support the site that Janice Shamberg presented so clearly. The soil is better there than at Bicentennial and will thus cost less for development. Parking is available at the adjacent school. The school would benefit from the fields. This site would not have a high impact on other park users, as would the Bicentennial Park site. Not even on horse riders like me. And there is no cost for acquisition. This is a real solution, providing what the ball players need, not creating hard feelings from other park users, and probably costing a lot less for development.

Please give Mr. Tesche's proposal your support. Maybe even Mayor George Wuerch could take another look at the solution available in Ruth Arcand Park and withdraw his veto.

-- Sandra Talt
Anchorage

Central Park has ball fields; why can't Bicentennial Park?
(Published February 19, 2002)

I just don't understand Sierra Club employee Maryellen Oman's opposition to Little League use of Bicentennial Park because she thinks "our Central Park' is a gem that makes this city unique" ("Go play ball somewhere else and leave Bicentennial alone," Feb. 9).

Look at the photo of New York's gorgeous 843 acre Central Park and its 23 ball fields, posted at www.friendsofsimonian.com/centralpark.htm.

Can't we let the Little League have four fields in a small corner of 4,500-acre Bicentennial Park? As a kid I played on ball fields in New York City's Central Park. Do we want less for our children?

-- Ray Kreig
Anchorage

Wilderness park too precious to serve as ball field site
(Published in ADN February 10, 2002)

I am a resident of Anchorage and a teacher in the Anchorage School District. Though I am a coach and actively support athletic programs for children, youth and adults, I think destroying wilderness that's used by a dozen groups to build ball parks in support of only one user group is a big mistake.

Bicentennial Park is a gorgeous piece of wilderness in the middle of a city! How could anyone consider destroying it when there are ANY other options? In the winter, people walk, snowshoe, cross-country ski, skijor, mountain bike, horseback ride, jog and walk their dogs. In the summer, people walk, walk their dogs, jog, horseback ride, mountain bike, hike and orienteer. When there are alternative spots available, why would anyone consider giving up all these activities for only one user group?

Destruction of wilderness within our city should be avoided. Once it is gone, it is gone forever.

I beg the Assembly to please make the right decision and build the ball fields in an area that is not wilderness and will not negatively affect so many user groups.

-- Beth A. Scott
Anchorage

Focus more on little league, less on location of ball fields
(Published in ADN February 10, 2002)

As a father who played little league as a youth and then later coached his son's team for a number of years, I understand the importance and value of competitive sports to young people. It teaches teamwork, respect and work ethic.

I can remember how grateful we were for the ball fields we played on, even if they were not all in one area. We never thought twice about driving across town to play at a municipal, middle school, high school or college ball field facility. We were more focused on the game and the benefits it bestowed on our kids.

It would be great to build a superpark to accommodate everyone's wildest needs, but the reality is the league should use existing park and school facilities while not sacrificing the quality of the little league program.

Wouldn't it be great if the energy spent on deciding this issue was spent on developing the hundreds of kids that play the game? Destroying part of the Bicentennial Park to accommodate the league would not increase the quality of what the kids get out of playing the game. The park should be left alone to be enjoyed by a wide cross-section of people and their families as planned by the city and supported by the community.

-- Bill Cheek
Anchorage

Trees judged important; look for alternatives to cutting them down
(Published January 18, 2002)

The planning department approved amending the Bicentennial Park master plan to allow for development of ball fields, yet one municipal code addition being looked at in January is a land-clearing ordinance. The ordinance places a restriction on clearing trees and brush on private property. The planning department has made a judgment about the importance of trees. If they are important, then the department should lead the way and live by its own rules. We must look for other options.

Mayor Wuerch said that Anchorage is not short of trees and clearing this 20-25 acres is necessary so hundreds of children can play ball. There are other truly viable options. Ms. Shamberg took a long look at Ruth Arcand Park. Her ideas make a lot of sense.

The Simonian Little League folks have accused anyone opposed to their plan as being radical. I do not believe that stepping back and taking a long look at the repercussions of this action is a radical step. I support Little League and the development of team sports, but this is not the way to solve this problem. Do not be fooled. There are viable alternatives. Please do not be swayed by the emotional push to act quickly. Many worthwhile groups deserve land, and the line is forming. This will not be the last request.

-- Debbie Bagdol
Anchorage

Good to live where people will plan and not just execute a quick fix
(Published January 18, 2002)

"The Best Urban Park" is the title of the Outside magazine news clip of Oct. 2001 that said, "You won't find manicured gardens or softball fields in Portland, Oregon's Forest Park; its 5,000 wild acres of lush cedars, hemlocks and Doug firs have been gloriously left alone since the park's creation in 1948."

Luckily I live in a city where people are just as concerned about preserving natural environments as developing them. Thank goodness for those "selfish" folks who are looking for a long-term community solution rather than a quick, no-brainer fix. It certainly would be easy to give the Simonian Little League a "mere" 25 acres. A better solution is to create a new park in an area more densely populated with no parks. There are several sites mentioned in the Land Design North study that meet these criteria. Let's give children a place to play ball and plan for the future.

-- Holly Rogers
Anchorage

Baseball lover realizes consumption of city's parklands is irreversible
(Published January 17, 2002)

I have been teaching Anchorage children for more than 20 years. I love them. I have also been a player, coach, manager and umpire in the local baseball leagues from T-ball up to and including the Anchorage Bucs for as many years. I am passionate about baseball, too. And I have skied Hillside's ski trails every winter since the late 1970s, so the issue of using the parkland for youth baseball fields is a complex issue for me. They deserve a good place to play. It is important that they get a good place to play as soon as they need it.

However, I cannot support using land from the park in the Anchorage Bowl to create these fields. There are other options that should be used. The consumption of our parklands is irreversible. I have aerial photos of Anchorage in my classroom that clearly show the diminishing space in Anchorage over past decades. Leave the park alone. We need to find another place for the kids to play ball.

-- Joe Buesseler
Anchorage

Folowing is from "The Voice of the Times"
Published in the Anchorage Daily News January 15, 2002

ASSEMBLY SEEMS NEGATIVE ON . . .
Baseball acres

THE ASSEMBLY VOTE set for today on whether to amend Far North Bicentennial Park's master plan to allow Simonian Little League baseball fields on a tiny portion of the 4,000-acre tract has been rescheduled for Jan. 29.

Assemblywoman Cheryl Clementson could not be present for tonight's meeting because of a family emergency, Assembly Chairman Dick Traini said Monday, so the vote was delayed.

It may be a good thing for the Simonian Little League's kids.

The unofficial Assembly tally in most camps, sadly, is 6-5 against letting the league use 25 acres in the southwest portion of the vast park for baseball fields that would be close to its kids' modest neighborhoods.

The league is losing the donated baseball fields it has used for the past quarter-century and must find a new home -- quickly -- or fold its tent. It has been trying to arrange new fields for two years, only to be stymied at every turn.

You have to wonder why the Assembly is balking. It cannot be for a lack of recreational land. The city has nearly 15,000 acres in 230 parks. The nearby Chugach National Forest offers a New Jersey-size recreation area for Anchorage residents, and the Chugach State Park has a half-million acres more.

Members of the Assembly in the pocket of the Alaska Conservation Voters and other environmental organizations -- Doug Van Etten and Janice Shamberg, for instance -- and others who have gone along with their outrageous, foot-dragging tactics have suggested everything under the sun to avoid the obvious.

In their latest stall, they want the city to buy land costing millions to save 25 acres in Far North. Under that silly scenario, taxpayers would have to pay for bonds to buy the land and then shoulder increased property taxes because that land would be withdrawn from the tax base.

The delay until Jan. 29 is good for voters, too.

The April municipal election has not yet drawn much interest. The filing period begins Jan. 25 and ends Feb. 8. Cheryl Clementson's seat is up for grabs because she cannot run again. Up for re-election are: Allan Tesche, Anna Fairclough, Dan Sullivan, Dick Traini and Dick Tremaine.

Tesche likely is a no vote, but Fairclough and Tremaine -- both, oddly, with Little League backgrounds and connections -- are question marks in the Simonian Little League vote.

Voters should take the opportunity in the few weeks until the vote to ask them -- and other Assembly folks, as well -- their position on kids and Little League and burdening Anchorage taxpayers with unnecessary debt to appease the ski and tree crowd.

And remind them April is coming.

The Voice of the Times does not represent the editorial views of the Anchorage Daily News. This commentary is published under an agreement with the owner of the former Anchorage Times newspaper to preserve its separate editorial voice. The Voice of the Times staff can be contacted at AnchTimes@corecom.net.

Perhaps city, children would gain if Little Leagues were consolidated
(Published in ADN January 12, 2001)

How well-utilized are existing ball fields? Currently, league boundaries are determined by population, not number of players. League sizes range from 250 to more than 1,000 players. In order to field teams in some ages, leagues combine teams. High school teams are sponsored by the American Legion and don't use Little League fields.

Only half the leagues in Anchorage have complexes with all their fields at one site. The idea of having a complex so all your children are at one site is moot anyway. From the time children get beyond coach-pitch, they "inter-league," or play at sites throughout the district. Many times I had three children playing at different fields.

The city should have realistic discussions with Little League regarding how league boundaries are set and how well-utilized current league fields are. If a league with more than 1,000 kids playing uses five fields, how can a league with 250 players also need five fields? It may be that not only the city but also the children would be better served if the smaller leagues were consolidated into more efficient organizations with more players. It could just be that we have enough ball fields to accommodate everyone who wants to play. As a Little League mother, I would support additional fields but only if convinced that they are necessary.

-- Linda Baker
Anchorage

It's foolish to buy ball field land when we're so rich in parkland
(Published in ADN January 12, 2001)

I am very sad for our community and its kids. By any standard Anchorage is extremely wealthy with its thousands of acres of existing wild parkland. That there could be so many people opposed to providing a paltry, minuscule 25 acres (only 14 of which would be cleared) for kids to play Little League ball is stunning.

It seems so callous and greedy, like a scrooge sitting on millions of dollars who refuses to buy a raffle ticket from a kid raising money for his sports uniform.

Folks, clouds are on the horizon. Alaska's budget reserve will finally be drained in three years. Any new taxes that have to be raised will be dearly needed for maintaining services, new schools, basic needs.

Our wild parkland needs are already met many times over. Our library is way below national standards in book holdings. I would vote for bond money for books, but it is foolish to raise taxes to buy private land for ballparks just to satisfy green ideologues when a suitable site is already owned by the municipality.

Next week's Assembly vote will be a financial responsibility litmus test for each member, and it's going to be an indication of what their values and priorities are for the needs of youths. Take note how each votes.

-- Ray Kreig
Anchorage

Little League's good cause that's making a bad choice with park
(Published January 9, 2002)

Good causes sometimes make bad choices.

What if a national charity knocks on your door with an immediate crisis and wants to take over your home as an emergency children's shelter, something we're short on here.

You say, "No, the house next to the hospital is vacant and for sale. Why don't you buy that instead?" They say, "We can't; it would cost money, it would take extra time and effort, we may not get it fast enough, we need it now," and so on.

If you insist they do the right thing and get their own, better-suited place for that worthwhile cause, are you a selfish, insensitive, spendthrift kid-hater? Or did this good cause simply make a bad choice, seeing only their own urgent need without thinking of others?

Youth sports is a good cause, but by falling into lock-step with the mayor's plan to develop Bicentennial Park for ball fields, displacing current users and changing the nature of the park, the Simonian Little League has made a bad choice.

Please ask your Assembly members to make the right choice by supporting youth sports, and finding the Little League their own place to play ball. Ask them to build ball fields on one of many available alternate sites, outside of a heavily used part of Bicentennial Park. Reach them at www.muni.org.

-- Stephanie Voorhees
Anchorage

Kids, baseball are worth 25 acres in Bicentennial Park
(Published January 9, 2002)

On Jan. 15, our Assembly members will decide whether Simonian Little League will have baseball fields by spring 2004. There have been numerous articles written about this, both pro and con. I read one article that disturbed me, "Which kids' want these new ball fields, anyway?" This individual stated that baseball was an East Coast sport that was dying and shouldn't be played west of the Mississippi River. Baseball is still America's national pastime. You don't have to be 7 feet tall or weigh 250 pounds, you can be small like Pedro Martinez and strike out batters, or like Ichiro and be a great hitter and fielder. In baseball, there's a place for anyone with heart.

I personally don't know the thrill of skiing down a well-groomed ski slope. I do know the thrill of seeing a kid catching his first fly ball. I've seen the look on their faces when they hit the ball over a 200-foot fence for the first time. I've seen the look of confidence on their faces after they have accomplished these small feats. They shouldn't be denied this, no matter what side of the Mississippi River they live on.

Give these kids their 25 acres of land in Bicentennial Park. They are worth it.

-- David E. Parker
Anchorage

Ball fields would enhance park, much like cleared area of Kincaid
(Published January 9, 2002)

The "Friends of Far North Bicentennial Park" are presenting a false choice to the people of Anchorage regarding developing 25 acres of ball fields in one small corner of that huge park. They contend that the 4,200 acre park will be irreparably harmed by clearing 25 acres for ball fields! Kincaid Park proves that this is false because there are 75 acres of cleared fields and parking areas in the heart of this park, that is less than half the size of Far North Bicentennial Park, but these fields enhance the park for skiers, hikers, runners, wildlife viewing, etc. The central cleared stadium area is the start and finish for ski races in winter, and in summer it hosts the Mayor's Midnight Sun Marathon, outdoor concerts, dog training, etc.

The Little League field proposal to create multiuse fields with removable fencing will allow ski races and other activities at the ball fields during the off-season. Far North Bicentennial Park presently has tiny parking lots and no trail head facilities. The new parking lots, bathrooms and other facilities will be there for all users year-round. The fields and parking areas will give East Anchorage the much improved venue to host outdoor sporting events that it deserves.

-- J. Dennis Stacey
Anchorage

May the pig farm be with you if our parkland is not left untouched
(Published: January 4, 2002)

After reading Sue Cassidy's letter ("Too bad Medred didn't inherit his grandfather's love for baseball" Jan. 1) blasting Craig Medred's opposition to constructing baseball fields in Bicentennial Park, I hope that the proposed Kenai Peninsula pig farm is built next to Ms. Cassidy's backyard in Sterling. Leave Bicentennial Park and the Campbell Tract alone.

-- Jack Carli
Anchorage

Bicentennial Park supports feet, ideals best the way it stands now
(Published in ADN January 4, 2002)

I have seen many changes in Anchorage since 1970, but none disturb me like the potential changes to Far North Bicentennial Park.

I drive from Oceanview four times a week to access the park. The park is home to people who bike, ski, run, play Frisbee, walk their dogs, skijor, snowshoe, who ride horses and those who practice orienteering skills. These are just a few of the many feet that now use the park. If ball fields are allowed, these many feet will be reduced to a few feet with limited park access.

Will Anchorage continue to erode the park and make it easy to whittle away our parkland? A piece to the school district, a piece this year to ball fields, a piece next year to soccer fields? Will Anchorage make a decision that benefits the few instead of the many feet that use the park year round?

The easy access recreational opportunities in Anchorage are priceless. Will we draw a line in the sand that says our parks are important to this community? Will we tell our community that it is what's important for the many in Anchorage, not the few? We moved to Anchorage, Alaska, not to Chicago. For the sanity of our city, please support our many feet.

-- Janus Reyes
Anchorage

VOICEOF THE TIMES: Putting politics above Simonian kids
(Published December 28, 2001)

(Web editor's note: For those not familiar with "Voice of the Times," it is the remnants of the failed Anchorage Times which was Anchorage's premier daily for many years. The Anchorage Daily News gives the former Times editors a half page everyday to provide a counterpoint to issues of the day. They claim to be "the conservative voice" with all the suspicion of government that includes. That puts them in an odd position on this issue where Assemblyman Doug VanEtten has simply forced the city to follow its own laws and the legal requirements of its own plans. Any good conservative should applaud that!)

By PAUL JENKINS

Once in a while, you have to step back, take a deep breath and try to fathom the smug elitism that all too often passes for civic-mindedness in this fair city.

Take, for example, the ongoing hubbub over using 25 acres of the 4,000-acre Far North Bicentennial Park for baseball fields. Turns out, the Simonian Little League is being evicted from the donated ball fields it has used for the past quarter-century. The league will have to play its season in 2004 on new fields -- somewhere else.

The Assembly is being asked to change Far North's master plan to allow the league to situate its fields in the southwest corner of the huge park. The idea is to ensure Simonian's kids can use fields, located in one place, close to their neighborhoods.

The battle lines in this debate are drawn in concrete. There is not much give on either side. The well-organized greens have made denying kids the right to use a tiny section of the park into a cause celebre, and a test of their political power. The Little League says the land in question fits its needs better than any other tract.

It is not difficult to understand opposition to using that tiny, piece of land. Some folks see it as opening the door to the rape and pillage of valuable park land in the city. But, face it, some of these people are acting like self-interested idiots who will do or say anything to head off the fields.

For the record, the city has something like 14,900 acres in its 230 parks, and the Chugach National Forest in our back yard has 5.4 million acres of land -- that's about the size of New Jersey -- with the nearby Chugach State Park boasting nearly a half-million more. We're talking about 25 acres here. Twenty-five. That's about the size of the Kosinski ball fields, or the old cemetery downtown.

And what would the good people of this city get in return for the land? Baseball fields convenient to the families and kids who use them. Baseball fields clustered all in one place -- just like they are in the rest of the city. The satisfaction of helping a sport that, since its inception in 1939, has taught sportsmanship, teamwork, the power of hard work and the magic of success. Most important, the satisfaction of helping children who might be most in need of what baseball can provide. And all for only 25 acres.

Opponents, including a surprising number of recent arrivals, could not care less. They want the park intact. They have suggested spreading the ball fields all over town, making it almost impossible for families with more than one child playing ball. They've tried to figure a way to pick taxpayers' pockets to buy expensive private land where the fields could be constructed. They've wanted to have them broken up and located at different schools. They've even snidely suggested the Simonian kids -- but not the kiddies in their comfortable neighborhoods -- be forced to play another sport to save the 25 acres. Anywhere, anything, to have their self-interested way.

Opponents also have suggested that some dark interests are behind the move to locate the fields on the 25-acre tract; that this is just the first step for those who will pave the park. Good grief.

It's sad to say, but some of the bitter rhetoric in this debate smacks of economic discrimination by those who have come to believe they deserve, because of their economic status, or their exalted work as do-gooders and cultural nannies, the right to force this community to turn its back on children to save a lousy 25 acres. In their view, apparently, if you don't ski, you don't count.

Some members of the Assembly, and Doug Van Etten immediately comes to mind, find themselves deep in the pocket of the Alaska Conservation Voters -- the group that doesn't disclose to Alaskans where it gets the money it spreads around to properly green political candidates. These bought-and-paid-for assemblyfolks have been doing their masters' bidding by stalling and studying and scheduling more hearings on the issue at each and every opportunity.

But the vote is coming Jan. 15. It is an interesting exercise to try to figure how it will go. Depending on who you talk to, the possible "no" votes: Van Etten; Janice Shamberg; Allan Tesche; and Dick Tremaine. The possible "yes" votes: Cheryl Clementson; Dan Sullivan; Dan Kendall; and Anna Fairclough.

Question marks: Melinda Taylor and Fay Von Gemmingen.

And Assembly Chairman Dick Traini? "One way or the other those kids are going to have ball fields," he says. "I'll vote to put them in the park if I have to. That's my last choice."

It is too bad that opponents of allowing the Simonian Little League to have the fields located on the contested acreage cannot see that it is the best solution to the thorny problem. It is the least expensive. It allows the league to be playing on its new fields by 2004, and it just makes sense that kids are more important than 25 acres, especially when there are huge tracts available nearby.

It also is a shame that the greens, Van Etten and his like-minded pals on the Assembly have put politics above the interests of the Simonian kids. I have only three words for them:

Shame on you.

Paul Jenkins is an editor of The Anchorage Times.

The Voice of the Times does not represent the editorial views of the Anchorage Daily News. This commentary is published under an agreement with the owner of the former Anchorage Times newspaper to preserve its separate editorial voice. The Voice of the Times staff can be contacted at AnchTimes@corecom.net.

Me thinks Voice of the Times dost protest too much
(Submitted to the Anchorage Daily News December 20, 2001 in repsonse to a "Voice of the Times" editorial.)

Please refer to their editorial on 12/20/01which was neither original nor informative. It show cases much of the gross misinformation foisted upon the public, the Assembly and other elected officials this past year about a proposed amendment to Far North Bicentennial Park’s master plan. This proposed amendment would allow high intensity sports fields in the SW corner of the park. It paves the way to construct ball fields and a parking lot for 168 vehicles on a specific 25 acres demanded by Dave Manzer of Simonian Little League.

The location demanded is included in a parcel of 30 acres, explicitly identified in the Master Plan, which is excluded from high intensity, extensive sports field development. Much smoke screen swirls about this specific spot and that no other location will do. Please note this location, and much of the remainder of the park, contains some of the better ground in Anchorage for commercial or residential development purposes.

Coincidence? Are Mr. Manzer and his supporters being used by others for purposes unrelated to "having a place for kids to play"?

Perhaps it is time to "follow the money" folks. Who might gain financially or politically by using the plight of Simonian Little League to gain access to park lands for future development? Let’s smoke em out! Identify the scoundrels. Chastise them for hiding behind children and Little League to conceal their own avarice and polarize our community.

Have you all got the scent now? Let’s go sic em!!

Cortland A Broberg PE CE/LS; 15 year Little League Veteran; retired

Are Little Leaguers more important than kids who enjoy park as it is?
(Published in ADN December 18, 2001)

"Assembly pondering ball fields feedback" (Dec. 12) served to perpetuate the myth that the Bicentennial Park ball fields issue pits children against wildlife and the park's natural surroundings. Numerous parents testified that their children use the park in its present natural condition. The Junior Nordic Ski Club has undertaken a volunteer project in the area. The Alaska Center for the Environment's Trailside Discovery Camp uses the park to help 1,300 children each summer learn about and enjoy the delights and wonders of the natural world.

Everyone supports identifying a suitable location for the Simonian Little Leaguers. But do we really want to suggest that kids who play Little League are more important than kids who enjoy the park as it is? Clearing 25 acres of natural open space for ball fields is not a victory for children. Instead, siting ball fields in the park places the interests of one group of children over the interests of another.

We don't need to choose between equally valid needs of our children. Alternative locations have been identified by the municipality's consultant. Let's find new ball fields for our kids in a way that adds to the total of community parkland. Let's not subtract from our steadily dwindling pool of accessible natural open space.

-- Cliff Eames
Public lands director
Alaska Center for the Environment
Anchorage

Writer is mistaken: School District ball fields are heavily booked
(Published in ADN December 18, 2001)

In response to Ray Cammisa's letter, "Unused School District ball fields the solution to Simonian problem" (Dec. 15), I offer for your review a 41-page Anchorage School District report dated Oct. 24, 2001, shared with the Anchorage Assembly on Oct. 30, that lists 66 of the School District's 88 schools and their field rental schedules for summer 2001.

Every one is heavily used all week, all summer long, but almost exclusively from 5 or 6 p.m. until 10 or so. The handful of elementary schools that are not listed are either on base, where the military has its own summer recreation schedule, or are very small school sites with no usable fields.

I believe that what Mr. Cammisa observed are idle fields during the workday, when the coaches, referees and parents of young ball players are at work.

The city and School District are already providing every available field to the public during the times that the public wants to use them. I also have a long list of Adopt-A-Field volunteers who are doing field maintenance in exchange for priority use.

Perhaps Mr. Cammisa could organize a group of volunteers to take over while the parents work and the fields could be used from morning till nightfall. And he might also want to call Anchorage School District Community Rentals at 742-4142 to see these lists for himself.

-- Harriet Drummond
Anchorage School Board member

Here's a compromise: Leave park as it is, put ball fields elsewhere
(Published in ADN December 17, 2001)

"Compromises have to be made by everyone to get along." (Bruce Shellenbaum, letter, Dec. 13) Yet the solution Mr. Shellenbaum proposes is not a compromise but a capitulation. A compromise is where every side gives a little for the greater good. Having ball fields built somewhere other than Far North Bicentennial Park gives everybody what they want. The Little Leaguers get their ball field. The wilderness lovers get to keep all of Bicentennial Park undeveloped. Everybody gets what they want. On the other hand, build ball fields in Bicentennial Park and one group gets what they want and the other side watches some of what they love so much be destroyed.

Now which seems like a solution that makes the most people happy?

The larger question is where does it all end? With every project they say, "It's just a little piece." They took a little piece to expand Hilltop. The Little Leaguers want a little piece for their ball fields. It's enough to make you think that in 20 years we will all be saying,"So where do you want to go to get away from it all?"

"Why, Chugach State Park of course, because all the other wilderness around Anchorage is gone."

-- Matthew Cohen
Anchorage

End fruitless discussion by building playing fields near existing ones
(Published in ADN December 17, 2001)

Why are we considering putting sports fields in Far North Bicentennial Park? There is lots of land on the northern edge of the park that is designated PLI, which includes usage as sports fields. It is owned by the municipality, so there is no acquisition cost. There are already ball fields developed there the Chuck Albrecht Fields. If there is suitable land for the Chuck Albrecht fields, then there ought to be suitable land for Little League fields, perhaps right next to the Albrecht fields. Don't amend the Far North Bicentennial Park plan.

-- Dawn Ridge
Anchorage

We would be wise to preserve land as Anchorage's population grows
(Published in ADN December 17, 2001)

I participated in the planning sessions that the Bureau of Land Management held several years ago, and one thing came up that was unanimous among area users. We valued the quietness of the area above almost all else. Bicentennial Park/Campbell Tract is where I go to recreate and recharge.

As Anchorage grows and becomes more crowded and busy, our remaining undeveloped land will become more valuable as open land. We have to remember that not all residents are able to get out of town to enjoy wild Alaska. As Anchorage grows, the pressures to develop will become greater; it will be harder as a community to balance the needs and desires of all segments of our population.

We need to be conservative. Once land is developed, we can never return undeveloped land to its former character. We need to keep quiet areas for enjoyment by all, including the Little Leaguers and their families. Let's not let the park slip away a piece at a time, or we will regret it.

There are other locations that are more logical for ballparks than Bicentennial Park. The location off 88th Avenue, for instance, offers better access and is near establishments that offer services. It would also be a great location for creating an adjacent landscaped area that could be enjoyed all summer.

-- Kathleen Sheehan Dugan
Anchorage

Following is from an email December 10, 2001
Dear Assembly Representative,

I believe the amendment, now before the Assembly, will not provide a win-win situation for anyone except the Simonian Little League.  Locating the ball fields in Bicentennial Park will change the character of the park for other recreational uses and limit potential revenue to our city.

This land dispute is very similar to the struggle over water rights in the West, and we can all see the travesty there. Sentiment in the West has been that if the water isn't being used it's being wasted. Those that want to conserve the water feel if the water is being used unwisely it's being wasted. The same thing is happening in Anchorage only we're dealing with land instead of water. The Simonian Little League's quest to clear cut 25 acres in the beautiful pristine wilderness of Bicentennial Park is like the narrow focus of the West consuming water unwisely just because it's there. They seem to consider land not built upon as being wasted land. On the other hand, people that appreciate nature and realize how it adds to our quality of life feel it's a waste of land to build where the use is incompatible or narrowly focused.

When are we going to strike a balance? Time is running out for Anchorage to capitalize upon its natural resources in the city. Bit by bit these natural areas are being developed. Once they're gone, there's no turning back. The West is paying a high price for their failure to look ahead. If we stay on the same course and use our resources unwisely we'll ultimately see similar results. Please cast your vote to leave Bicentennial Park in tact as a legacy to this city and future generations.

Our built community in Anchorage is evidence that we've made some mistakes - mistakes we may never recover from. We need to learn from our poor decisions with city planning and leave what little character remains in our city. Bicentennial Park and Kincaid Park remain our anchors. If we start misusing this space, we stand to lose in the long run. Have you considered that we could be making money for our city by leaving Kincaid Park and Bicentennial Park in their natural state? Recently over 30 leaders involved with winter recreation gathered together to discuss the possibility of turning Anchorage into a winter sports capital of the world. Far fetched idea you say. They don't think so, and neither do I. I've been involved with the airline industry and tourism for 20 years and I honestly feel if we get behind this idea we have the potential of having tourism in Anchorage 12 months out of the year instead of 4.

Over the years, I've had the pleasure of meeting thousands of cruise ship passengers at the Airport. I would always delight in asking them "So what do you think of Anchorage?" Most often I woud hear that they didn't get to see much of it. When I'd ask why. They would tell me "Well, it seemed like the minute we arrived we were loaded on a Princess bus and whisked out of town - what a pity." What a pity indeed. It is a pity when our visitors don't get a chance to spend time in Anchorage, and it's a pity Anchorage isn't able to realize the revenue from their stay.

Another observation I made was that the other passengers visiting our State or passing through seemed disappointed with the character of Anchorage. Their comments were not favorable towards the built community. It goes without saying that our built community needs a face-lift to reflect the natural beauty and grandeur around us. We need to determine what kind of city we want to become. Communities where people want to spend time don't just happen - they're planned.

We all need to be visionaries about our future. We need the kind of vision a 90-year-old person has when they plant a tree. They know they'll never see the tree mature. They're not planting it for themselves. They're planting it for the future. The sports leaders that gathered together to discuss how Anchorage could become a winter sports capital of the world have vision. For their vision to become a reality they need Bicentennial Park and Kincaid Park left intact. They need a government agency or a non-profit organization to help coordinate their individual efforts, find financial backing, and launch a marketing campaign that would entice the world to come to Anchorage for year round recreation. Anchorage is strategically located on the Pacific Rim where we could easily attract winter sports groups from Asia, Europe and North America.

We need to look at our City's parks and recreational facilities as outdoor convention centers. If we create a world-class sports community and leave our outdoor parks intact, the tourist will come. Please don't sacrifice what Anchorage could be for unattractive ball fields and possible airport expansion? I urge you to sharpen your vision and vote NO on Tuesday.

Rebecca Roberts
8032 Queen Victoria Drive
Anchorage, AK 99518
229-6137

Unused School District ball fields the solution to Simonian problem
(Published in ADN December 15, 2001)

The debate of ball fields vs. parks is a needless one.

Look around Anchorage at all the ball fields that go unused during the summer on Anchorage School District grounds. These fields are not even mowed by the School District for lack of funds. Why can't the city and School District act like big kids and share the expense and upkeep of these fields and let we, the people of Anchorage, live with a win-win situation.

-- Ray Cammisa
Anchorage

Build the ball fields now and let NIMBY folks get on with their lives
(Published in ADN December 15, 2001)

I am sick of these people crying about baseball fields in a tiny corner of Far North Bicentennial Park. They complain that it is not appropriate because it would only serve one special interest group and would require cutting down trees and clearing of land. The last time I checked, groomed, lighted cross-country ski trails serving a small percentage of the population (can you say special interest group?) required clearing of land and running unsightly utility poles through pristine woods. The number of special interest groups using and developing the park goes on and on. Groomed dog trails with bridges, tunnels and fencing, Hilltop Ski Area, and the Botanical Gardens are wonderful examples.

I don't ski, mush dogs, mountain bike, own a horse, or get too excited about horticulture, but my kids play baseball. Build the fields now and let the "Not In My Backyard" folks get on with their lives.

-- Dan Boots
Anchorage

Ball field? Remember that growing community has growing needs
(Published in ADN December 13, 2001)

I can't help but wonder where all the people who have such wonderful suggestions for the location of the ousted Simonian Little League were when the potential sites were being debated. We discussed using existing school fields and all the other vacant tracts of land nearby. Each option was looked at and the best, least expensive and quickest to develop was selected. If you have a viable suggestion and the reasoning to support it, please share it with the community. Just do your homework first. The Simonian Little League has.

On another note, I, for one, am getting fed up with the "sure the poor kids need a ball field, just not in my back yard" attitude. Anchorage is a growing community. Like it or not, growing communities have growing needs. This state has enormous amounts of wilderness to satisfy even the most devout tree huggers. Our children need a place to learn teamwork, fair play and become a part of our community. How can you deny them that?

-- Wade Palmer
Simonian Little League father
Anchorage

(Web Editor's note: The city had a study done that identified other locations as "most desirable for the community as a whole.")

We all live in a city; to get along, all need to make compromises
(Published in ADN December 13, 2001)

I'm quite confused by all the rhetoric about the Little League fields. It seems such a small area of Bicentennial Park. Perhaps the Daily News could publish a map outlining the park and indicating exactly where the ball fields would be placed. Existing trails could also be identified on the map. This might increase the knowledge and tone down the volume on both sides.

Like it or not, we all live in a city, not in a forest. Compromises have to be made by everyone to get along. Mr. Simonian certainly deserves the highest thanks we can give him for donating the use of his land for so many years, now it is up to the city to provide for such a good thing as the Little League. I invite everyone to go to www.ssprd.org, the web site of the South Suburban Park District, south of Denver, which has won national awards for its parks, melding functionality with multi-use trails, ball fields and forests side by side.

-- Bruce Shellenbaum
Anchorage

Editor's note: A map like the one suggested above was published on Page B-1 in the Wednesday issue of the Daily News.

Little League should have its fields but not in Bicentennial Park
(Published in ADN December 11, 2001)

Taking parkland from one group to give it to another is just playing with numbers and not listening to the people's 2020 plan. Park users have grown manyfold, and the park is slowly being squeezed on all sides. Adding ball fields is just pushing more users into a smaller amount of land.

The Far North Bicentennial Park master plan key words are "preserve and provide for recreational use that is consistent with the primary objectives of nature conservation." Ball fields do not fit in this category unless outfields are full of trees.

Where is the vision of the 2020 plan that states more community parks are needed? The 88th Avenue-Dimond Boulevard area is exactly what the plan is aimed for -- acquiring more community parkland in higher-density neighborhoods. What about land behind Hanshew and Spring Hill schools? Less acreage would be needed since there are parking lots. Little Leaguers will not be denied their fields, but the city needs to have the vision that was asked for in the 2020 plan. People who want to protect Bicentennial Park are not being selfish. They want to keep this city livable by having parkland accessible for recreational use.

I ask the Assembly to step up to the plate and help the league acquire ball fields but not in Bicentennial Park. There are other locations available.

-- Michelle Bradner
Anchorage

I take exception to Colin Hogan’s assessment of the Simonian ballfield issue as adults vs. children. The most vocal opponent of placing ballfields in FNBP in our family is our 7-year-old son, who enjoys exploring, climbing trees, and jumping off boulders with his brother, in the very woods that would be leveled for the ballfields. These woods are open to every kid with a parent who wants to expose them to these joys of being a kid in Alaska.

Our sons also enjoy playing soccer in one of the city’s several leagues. Unlike Little League, any child can play in any soccer league; there are no boundaries. (Like Little League, no player is turned away for an inability to pay the fee.) Each year, the soccer leagues meet, in advance of a larger meeting including all the summer sports, to divvy up the private and public fields available for play. It’s tight, fitting everyone in, but they make it work.

Mr. Hogan believes Anchorage’s adults don’t want ballfields. Friends of Bicentennial Park and others are working tirelessly to place a community park with ballfields in a populous area where only buildings and parking lots would exist otherwise.

We are trying to preserve Anchorage’s wild areas for our children and grandchildren, while giving them an additional place where they can play baseball.

From Jennifer Huvar
December 14, 2001

Shame on you adults for turning your backs on Little Leaguers
(Published in ADN December 11, 2001)

I have been following the Simonian Little League saga and have become disgusted with the leaders in our community. Simonian Little League needs new fields. It has found a parcel of land in Far North Bicentennial Park, but the adults who play there don't want to be bothered by a bunch of kids. I have yet to hear how the ball fields will affect those activities. Simonian has suggested removable fences and pointed out that adults would benefit by having better parking. Not good enough. Alternative sites have been suggested, but those lands are all very expensive. Some are contracted to be purchased by chain retailers. Others would cost hundreds of thousands more to build.

Here is the real issue: The children of our community need help, and the adults of our community are trying very hard to turn their backs on them. Children are indeed our future. My thanks and admiration go out to all who have argued and fought to get these children a safe area to play in. Now, to those of you who refuse to share your skiing trails, shame on you. Grow up! Help take care of the children in our community. When your skiing days are over and you are in your golden years, I doubt these children will turn their backs on you.

-- Colin Hogan
Anchorage
Simonian coach and father

Better alternatives to Bicentennial Park ball fields must be considered
(Published in ADN December 9, 2001)

I am a Simonian Little League parent and I live adjacent to the proposed baseball field site in Bicentennial Park. Other suitable sites in the Land Design North report apparently were not considered in the site selection process. These include sites 6, 11, 13, 15, 21, 31 and 33. The best alternative to the Bicentennial site is the HLB site 11. The BLM site 13, adjacent to site 11, is also good. Both sites are east of 68th Avenue, and there is additional adjacent public land. Site 11 allows all fields at one location, is public, closer to the current fields, and will probably be opposed less because there are no residential neighbors.

I heard site 11 is wetlands, but as far as I know there has not been formal field delineation of wetlands. Regardless, wetlands permits are granted all the time. BLM recently constructed a major gravel road and expansive nature center adjacent to sites 11 and 13, so development concerns there can be overcome. BLM allows an environmental group to use the center and should also allow use of land for others.

The quality work by Land Design North is not being utilized, and good alternatives to the Bicentennial site have not been adequately considered.

-- Matthew A. Cronin
Anchorage

Writer's views on putting ball fields in park were self-serving, shortsighted
(Published in ADN December 8, 2001)

Greg Magee's opinion in Point/Counterpoint "Ball fields in Bicentennial Park?" (Nov. 29) was a disappointment. I wouldn't have expected such self-serving doublespeak from an engineer. At least there was the editorial honesty to point out that Mr. Magee's grandsons are in the Simonian Little League. His impartiality is, thus, suspect.

There is no need to "update" the current park master plan. If anything, the need for the natural recreation space is greater today than when the park was conceived. Changing the plan to allow the Simonian ball fields allows any other user group the right to demand its own chunk of the park. We cannot say "no" to Anchorage Youth Soccer, or Anchorage's other Little Leagues, or any other group that needs a field to play once the plan is amended. Far North Bicentennial Park will suffer a slow but sure death. Supporters of the Simonian project need to consider what it means to live in Anchorage. This is not, thank goodness, some town in Ohio. Our city's character is defined, and rightly so, by outdoor, mainly winter, recreation, not baseball; by wilderness and wildlife, not chain-link backstops and fenced fields which stand ugly, empty and unused for more than eight months of the year. We debate nothing less than the future of our city here. "Timely and affordable" are criteria when you're Christmas shopping for your mother-in-law -- on Dec. 24.

-- Warren C. Metzger
Anchorage

Bicentennial sports site doesn't best meet city's long-term needs
(Published in ADN November 6, 2001)

Would you like a new community park with five ball fields and two soccer fields at 88th and Abbott? This part of town was identified in the 1982 Anchorage Park, Greenbelt and Recreation Plan as needing a community park. This site is now wisely being considered for purchase by the city for a new park.

Or would you rather clear-cut Bicentennial Park near Abbott Loop and Jupiter to create only four ball fields and just one overlapping soccer field? This active sports complex would wipe out one of the most accessible wild areas in Anchorage. This site has always been planned for a low-key community park to enhance access to the wilderness with an improved trail head, picnic grounds, etc. It was never intended to be bulldozed for a sports complex.

Several interim sites have been identified where Simonian Little League could play for a few years until enough funds are found for a solution to better meet the city's long-term needs.

There are large hidden capital costs at the Bicentennial Park site. Extensive earthwork would be needed to flatten 30-foot-high topography. Abbott Loop Road would need improvements to mitigate the safety hazard caused by a blind spot at the steep hill on Abbott Loop, where hundreds of Little League kids and cars would try to enter or cross uncontrolled 50 mph traffic.

-- Andrew Meltzer
Anchorage

City should not use Little League to avoid dedicating land for parks
(Published in ADN December 5, 2001)

The controversy surrounding the proposed amendment to the Bicentennial Park plan, allowing ball fields for the Simonian Little League within the park, points to a deeper issue that is being ignored. The city is avoiding its responsibility to provide 80 additional acres of community park land by trying to change their charter for an existing, forested, multiuse park. In the city's effort to keep park land a low priority, it has made the Simonians a convenient pawn of its agendas and has created a highly divisive situation.

There are other locations that are cleared and that are nearer to the main concentration of children in the Simonian's boundaries where designated park areas currently don't exist. If park land acquisition and recreational opportunities for children and families were a real issue, the city's leaders would be willing to do what is necessary to obtain more appropriate land, and this issue would not be on the table. Everyone, including those of us who do not live adjacent to Bicentennial Park, would have reached a win-win solution a long time ago. The city's choice to handle this matter in this way has created controversy rather than building bridges as the mayor asks us to do. It's time the city follow its own words.

-- Amy Johnson
Anchorage

Ball fields can be built many places but forested park lands are unique
(Published in ADN November 28,2001)

Bicentennial Park/Campbell Tract is used 24/7/365 by walkers, joggers, bikers, skiers, equestrians, skijorers and bird watchers -- hundreds of people who need fresh air and relief from city din.

Ball fields for youth to be used a few months a year can be accommodated on existing school grounds which are otherwise empty in the summertime.

Everywhere in the city, trees are being sacrificed to build houses and apartments that look like barracks and have no green laws for weary adults and wary children.

Anchorage is clearly at a turning point: Use what is left of the trees, forests and green spaces wisely (all the lights put up in the winter cannot possibly make up for the loss of trees) or let the developers continue to create the northern version of Chicago's Cabrini Green.

-- Jean Buyze
Anchorage

Ball field space is limited, but concerned skiers have all of Alaska
(Published in ADN November 28,2001)

I attended the two-hour Assembly meeting during which many excellent testimonies were given on both sides of the very controversial issue as to whether the Simonian Little League should be allowed to have a ball field within Far North Bicentennial Park. The Assembly wisely chose to delay a decision until more testimony is heard. I walked away from the meeting with mixed emotions on the subject. It is obvious that there are many options. I fail to understand why the skiers are so possessive of 25 acres to build a ball field when there are approximately 4,600 acres in Bicentennial Park. If they want wilderness, there are 500,000 acres in Chugach State Park. And there is much more -- with the right mindset it is possible to ski to the Magnetic North Pole from Anchorage, without dogs.

-- Dick Griffith
Anchorage

This land was made for you and me, not just a small private interest group.
(Published in ADN November 21, 2001)

Little League's field of dreams' a nightmare for Bicentennial Park

Far North Bicentennial Park was set aside for all citizens of Anchorage to preserve a plot of land for the key reasons people live here -- the outdoors and proximity to wildlife. The Master Plan for Anchorage's equivalent to Central Park called for a "play meadow," not athletic fields, for the park's southwestern section.

Now, a private club wants this section for a single use -- four baseball fields that could alternatively be put elsewhere on a flat lot. Club members want the city to level 25 acres of virgin forest, replace sounds of songbirds with the cacophony of enthusiastic fans, build a 200-car parking lot and disturb the quiet nearby neighborhoods. The cost of this Little League complex -- $1.5 million -- is only the tip of the iceberg. Bike trails, sidewalks, turn lanes, crossing lights and other amenities for safe access from a road with a 45-mile-per-hour speed limit are hidden costs.

The Simonians' "field of dreams" is a nightmare for the many less organized and less vocal members of the community who regularly trek through that area with their families year-round and who vastly outnumber these club members. I'm sorry that the Daily News can't see the forest for the trees and criticizes Assembly members with more vision. This land was made for you and me, not just a small private interest group.

-- Marjorie T. Linder
Anchorage

From an email November 15, 2001

Arctic Orienteering Club is one of the many user groups of Bicentennial Park.  We created the definitive map of the area in 1992 with funding from many public and private interests.  Updated annually, we make frequent use of the park - hosting 10 events alone this year.  In 1994 we hosted US Orienteering National competition for a week, bringing $200,000 of visitor revenue to Anchorage.  We are proposing to host another national event and this park is mandatory to its viability.

Our annual event for high schools draws 300 participants.  Halloween Orienteering this year was attended by 400 primarily children and teenagers.   Per capita, orienteering is a bigger sport in Anchorage than any other city in the United States.  Our members do well when competing outside the state, because they have the unique opportunity to regularly compete in natural wilderness locally.  It is also important to the ASD, with whom we've partnered, to create a permanent course and host school events.

We are proud of providing educational and fun activities for families and highly competitive events for athletes.  Our successful program relies on keeping natural parks as the Bicentennial Park undeveloped.  Though we support the Simonian Little League's efforts to obtain new ball fields, there are feasible alternatives that would allow this while preserving the Bicentennial Park in its natural settings.

Sincerely,
Marianne Pedersen
Arctic Orienteering Club President

Let's vote: Ball fields may be needed, but not in wooded park
(Published in ADN November 21, 2001)

The one thing in your recent editorial I can agree with is this statement: "(The Bicentennial land) is also a lovely part of the woods, trails and streams that make up more than 4,000 acres of peace, quiet and as close to wilderness as the Anchorage Bowl gets" ("New fields," Nov. 20). If you keep chipping away at what little natural wild land is left, you will end up just like many other cities in the Lower 48. One chip leads to another until the original is no longer recognizable. Yes, ball fields may be necessary . . . but not in the park land. Find another option.

I bet that if you put this to a vote of the people of Anchorage, the majority would choose to keep it as is. How many people would choose groomed, treeless ball fields over multiple use trails in a lovely wooded area? Only those whose passion is involvement with Little League and baseball, I would guess.

As to your suggestion to let the fields be used by the community when not being used by the league, how many of the people who now hike, ski, picnic, bike, etc. in the park would want to do these activities in a groomed, treeless diamond?

The people of Anchorage should decide.
-- Dolores Waffen
Wasilla

Children need ball fields, and Bicentennial Park is the answer
(Published in ADN November 20, 2001)

It makes sense to support the use of a small part of Bicentennial Park for ball fields. Alaska has so much wilderness and open area, and Anchorage has so little private property. It makes no sense to restrict use of municipal open spaces like Bicentennial Park to people who have alternatives for their recreation, such as Chugach State Park, Kincaid, etc.

Anchorage residents literally have thousands of acres of land within minutes of our homes that are de facto wilderness and suitable for jogging, cross-country skiing, hiking, walking, orienteering, etc. It makes no sense to us to selfishly keep our children from using a small part of this large park for organized sports.

It makes even less sense to have to use taxes to purchase private property that is on our tax rolls for public use when we have so much land already owned by the municipality that is set aside for some kind of public use and recreation.

The Assembly should do the right thing and allow this request to use a small part of a large public use area for use for a ballpark for our community's children.

-- Jim and Lee Cloud
Anchorage

Bicentennial Park ball fields will set a good example for kids
(Published in ADN November 20, 2001)

Organized team sports are a backbone of any community that desires to teach its children to work together to win, to learn to win and lose with class and dignity, and to teach children that although some are more skilled than others, it takes a team to win -- not just individuals together in one place.

The recent trials and tribulations that our community has faced with racism and budget problems pitting groups against each other leads me to believe that we need to spend more time teaching our children inclusive activities like organized sports so that we can show our children how to act and to respect each other rather than just pay lip service to it.

I wish you could see the way that Simonian Little League coach Joe Dahl inspires every player on our team. He is not out there living vicariously through those kids; he is developing children into winners regardless of the final score. Great things are happening for children of all colors and all skill levels in Simonian Little League.

I think 25 acres of publicly owned Bicentennial Park should be redirected for public use as ball fields for baseball, softball, soccer, skiing and for additional parking for year-round park access. Please help us teach our children how to play nice and share. Thank you.

-- Devery Prince
Anchorage

2020 Comprehensive Plan provides for ball fields, park preservation
(Published in ADN November 18, 2001)

The Assembly put significant time and effort into the Anchorage 2020 comprehensive plan, and Anchorage residents agreed it was a good plan to adopt. The 2020 Plan clearly outlines an agenda of acquiring new land to be developed as community parks. The city's limited budget should be used to purchase more land, not to alter land we already own, namely the 25 acres of Far North Bicentennial Park desired by The Simonian Little League for ballields.

We need places like FNBP for our children to play, explore, and learn, and we need places for organized sports. We need more places. The 2020 plan takes the long view of the future for Anchorage; a view of a city with open green spaces, community and neighborhood parks, town centers with a sense of "community." Here is an opportunity for the Assembly to move toward achieving the goals of the plan. The Assembly should seize this opportunity. They should send a clear message to the people of Anchorage that they, as decision-making elected officials, want to stick to the plans they made; that they meant what they said when they adopted the 2020 plan.

Yes, the Simonian Little Leaguers need, and deserve, new ball fields. Let's accomplish two goals at the same time: 1) purchase new land for ball fields, and 2) preserve existing park land.

-- Emmy Zartman
Anchorage

One purpose of Little League will be lost if ball fields are spread out
(Published in ADN November 18, 2001)

If you've never spent an evening at a Little League park, you may be inclined to agree that existing ball fields will work for Simonian Little League. However, scattering families around town defeats one of the major purposes of Little League -- family time together.

Our family has three kids that have played for another league for years. On any given summer evening, we could spend 3 to 4 hours at the park watching games. Besides the regular games, siblings will play pickup or catch on the side. We will catch up with neighbors, friends and grandparents. We will work in the "snack shack," which provides necessary funds for Little League.

If games are spread throughout the city, families will be divided. One parent will come and watch the game and leave while the rest of the family is elsewhere. Funds from snack shack sales will not be available. The chance to provide our children a sense of community will be lost.

On Tuesday, the Assembly will decide whether to approve a baseball park that would occupy less than 1 percent of the 4,300 acres of Bicentennial Park. These ball fields will not ruin Bicentennial Park or displace existing users. I urge you to contact your Assembly members and let them know that you support family-centered environments such as the proposed Little League baseball fields.

-- Nancy Schierhorn
Anchorage

Preserve our park lands
(Published in ADN and sent by Joe Kurtak November 19, 2001)

The recent decision by the Planning and Zoning Commission to amend the charter for Far North Bicenntial Park, allowing construction of ball fields on park lands could be devastating to our quality of life in Anchorage.  The Master Plan for the park specifically excludes "extensive sports field development"on park lands. 

Simonian Little League will be given preferential scheduling rights to use the proposed ball fields, which will in essence bar other users. In addition, any kids using the fields would have to join Little League to do so.  This is not a park use "dedicated to all Anchorage citizens".

A recent study by Land Design North identified alternative sites that would meet the needs of Little League and and not go against the objectives of the Master Plan for the park.  These need to be considered before inroads are made into Bicentennial Park.

At present Anchorage citizens can enjoy undeveloped spaces and quiet without having to travel great distances outside the city.  It is one of the reasons that many of us enjoy living here.  I ask that the Anchorage assembly not approve the Planning and Zoning Commission decision and vote to preserve this unique tract of land so that Anchorage citizens can enjoy its wildness; now and in the future.

Joseph Kurtak
Former Little League player and  Bicenntial Park user.
Email: tundra@alaskalife.net
ph. 345-5512

Ball fields in Bicentennial Park will exclude many to benefit few
(Published in ADN November 17, 2001)

In regard to Pat Phillips' letter "The right solution to field shortage is before Assembly; speak up" (Nov. 14), I think he is the one who needs to get a grip on reality. I have not heard of one person who feels that the Simonian Little League should be dissolved. Everyone who has worked on the issue and everyone who I have talked with agrees that the Simonian Little League needs new ball fields.

The Land Design North report has approved two additional sites besides Bicentennial Park that meets their requirements, but the Simonians are adamant about taking the park land used by others. They also feel that the taxpayers should pay to develop ball fields while other little leagues have developed their own fields.

Doug Van Etten and Dick Traini are working very hard on raising the money to buy a piece of property where the trees have already been cut and the property has been back-filled and leveled. Therefore, developing the fields would be less costly than in the park.

Check out www.kidsneedparks.org and attend the assembly meeting on Nov. 20.

-- Jacki Wakefield
Anchorage

Orienteering meet was a success because of outstanding volunteers
(Published in ADN November 15, 2001)

The annual Halloween orienteering meet, hosted by The Arctic Orienteering Club, was again completed with 400, mostly children, attendees. It would not have been possible without outstanding volunteers. Pixie and Carl Siebe, Bill and Paige Spencer, Jeff Bannish and Pat Munz, Eric Follett, Colin Means and Andy Fisher, Jen Jolliff and Ian Moore all created terrific scenes. Per Pederson was director of the running course. Jill Follett, Kathy Means, and Marianne Pedersen maintained the decorations and food area.

Thanks to the BLM, without whose support we could have neither staged the course nor handled the logistics for so many people. Thanks to the busload of skiers and runners and their families from Colony as well as a strong contingent from Eagle River.

In summary, I'd like to remind Daily News readers that fires are forbidden in the confines of parks and particularly within BLM land without its express knowledge and consent. Also, a permanent orienteering course in the same area, created by the Anchorage School District, is open to the public.

Neither this event nor similar activities could be held on parkland that is razed for ball fields. BLM and Bicentennial wilderness is valuable for all kinds of recreational groups and should not be irrevocably committed to single season, single use.

-- Daniel Ellsworth, event director
Anchorage

The right solution to field shortage is before Assembly; tell them
(Published November 14, 2001)

Simonian Little League has been around for almost 30 years. I think the population in their league boundaries has probably grown a little, so there should be no doubt that they need fields.

Some Assembly members think that Simonian should just be dissolved and absorbed by surrounding leagues, which still would not solve the shortage of fields. They are frantically looking for a solution when there already is one. The cheapest, the best, the most reasonable, the one that has been analyzed, studied, debated, approved by the proper bodies, will now go before the Assembly for final approval. It is incredulous to me that there should be any doubt that this is not the best solution, the right solution, and the only solution. On Tuesday, please go the Assembly meeting and help persuade Doug Van Etten, Dick Traini, and others that they need to get a grip on reality and do what's right for these kids.

And finally, we keep hearing about the shortage of soccer fields around Anchorage. This enhancement to the park includes a soccer field. Why have I not seen a single letter of support from soccer organizations? Just wondering.

-- Pat Phillips
former president Dimond West Little League
Anchorage

City's adults, children need parks, not a place for special interests
(Published November 14, 2001)

We are adamantly against building ball fields and an accompanying parking lot in Far North Bicentennial Park. We live in the Abbott Loop area and know from personal experience and observation that the park is a source of recreation and solace for many people -- children as well as adults. If part of it is converted into ball fields, that acreage will be permanently removed from access to all but those with a specific interest. This city needs more parkland, not less, as the population increases.

-- Toby and Jill Widdicombe
Anchorage

Let Assembly know we need parkland, not new ball fields
(Published in ADN Nov. 13, 2001)

We do not need new ball fields at Bicentennial Park. The existing ball fields in town are used only sporadically. We have sufficient fields; now we need better scheduling and management of their use. Currently they sit unused much of each day in summer and totally unused for all but a few months of the year.

Instead of destroying parklands, why not stagger the baseball and softball seasons to make better use of the facilities already available? Hundreds of residents use Bicentennial Park year-round for biking, hiking, skiing, horseback riding and mushing. The constant encroachment of the limited space available for general public use puts our recreational sites at risk. Free space is becoming more and more restricted in the city.

Bicentennial Park is one of the few areas accessible after work for recreation. The Assembly needs to consider that undeveloped areas are necessary for times of solitude, solace and time to regenerate and relax. Please contact your Assembly representative and ask them to save our parklands for all of us and not for more ballparks to be used for two months by a small group of people while displacing an area used year-round by a wide variety of people. Please speak up now.

-- Sue Brady
Anchorage

Midtown Assembly members work for parkland, ball field solution
(Published in ADN Nov. 13, 2001)

I recently contacted the Midtown Assembly members. They assured me that they work for win-win solutions, and I want to support that political philosophy, especially on an issue that is very important to me.

For months now, maybe even years, we have been hearing about the need for baseball fields in the Abbott Loop area. The Assembly members there, Doug Van Etten and Dick Traini, respect that need and respect the need for preserving natural open space in Bicentennial Park. With those two needs in mind, they are working toward an alternative site for the ball fields, a solution that can accommodate the needs of the Little League and the needs of the open space users.

That is the kind of solution to a thorny city issue that I can respect and support. I also see this as a real bonus for the city because we would end up with more parkland at a time when vacant land all around us is filling up at the fastest rate Anchorage has ever seen.

-- Sarah Braswell

Let's build ball fields, but not in unique Bicentennial Park
(Published in ADN November 8, 2001)

I grew up playing Little League in Massachusetts and truly enjoyed the experience -- it was a fun way to spend a few months of the year. Back East, as in most places in America, ball fields are spread out among the strip malls and suburban subdevelopments. In Alaska, however, we have the ability to do things differently. Let's protect what we've got. Let's build ball fields for kids, but let's not destroy the very thing that makes Anchorage unique and wonderful in the process.

Accessible, forested parklands are at a premium here in Anchorage. As development creeps up the Hillside, there are fewer places to seek refuge from the sprawl that plagues the city. Traveling on skis, foot or bike, the trails through the trees provide valuable solitude. It's amazing how much those resilient old trees buffer the din of traffic and blur of lights that clog Tudor, Lake Otis, O'Malley and dozens of other roads throughout the city. Each time I enter the park, I am transported to a place of peace, which is certainly a most needed commodity today.

Bicentennial Park, in its current form, is a year-round land of multiple uses and appeals to a wide demographic of people. Let's protect it, celebrate our uniqueness and be richer as a community. There are plenty of other places to play ball.

-- Matt Rafferty

Don't let ballparks destroy the wild sanctity of Bicentennial Park
(Published in ADN November 8, 2001)

I believe that Bicentennial Park is a wilderness treasure in the Anchorage Bowl. My family and I frequent the trails all year round for hiking, trail running, cycling, snowshoeing and skiing. We are thankful to live in a city that values and protects wild places. The park provides important habitat for local wildlife as well as important recreational space for residents.

Consider the numbers of people who would benefit from ball fields compared to the numbers of people who benefit from the park in its current configuration. Consider the length of the baseball season compared to the length of the hiking, running, cycling, snowshoeing and skiing seasons. The answer is simple.

There are several other sites that would work well for ballparks. Don't allow the Assembly to approve this project simply because it is expedient. Please do the right thing and protect the land for our community as a whole and for future generations. Call or write your Assembly person before Nov. 20 to voice your opinion.

-- Jahna Pollock
Anchorage

Anchorage's threatened parkland must be saved from ball fields
(Published in ADN November 8, 2001)

Anchorage is in trouble. The unique outdoor recreational opportunities that make Anchorage a premier winter city are threatened.

Do you skijor, go orienteering, do the Tour of Anchorage ski race, mountain bike, cross-country ski, go trail running, or enjoy walking your dog or riding your horse away from traffic? Do you appreciate going for a walk and seeing spruce grouse flutter off in front of you, or coyote tracks on freshly fallen snow? Only one trail in Anchorage encompasses all these activities, and it's about to be affected by about 30 acres of clear-cutting.

The trail is the multi-use Coyote Trail, in Far North Bicentennial Park, and the threat to it is the proposed Simonian ball fields. We've already lost the Spencer Loop, and the airport is busy proposing a new East-West runway in Kincaid Park. A vocal minority has swayed the mayor and most of the Assembly to be poised to vote against protecting our wooded parks and trails. Planning and Zoning has already paved the way by voting in an amendment to the park plan to allow ball fields. The only way we can save our unique parkland is by speaking up and being heard. Call AND write the mayor and your Assembly representative now. Go to www.kidsneedparks.org for e-mails, sample letters, and to sign and help circulate petitions.

-- Lisa K. Johnson
Anchorage

We must work together to find the best solution to ballfield issue
(Published October 1, 2001)

As someone who is paid to work on conservation issues, I have a tremendous amount of admiration and respect for the innumerable individuals who volunteer their own time to help protect Alaska's natural areas. Without them, we wouldn't have our Denali National Parks, our Arctic National Wildlife Refuges or our Far North Bicentennial Parks. They deserve our sincerest thanks for their too often thankless work.

A recent Planning and Zoning Commission meeting had to be discouraging for the nearly 40 citizens who spent up to five hours to testify in favor of protecting the natural values of Far North Bicentennial Park. But I know from past experience that this discouragement will be temporary, and that those people and others will work doubly hard to convince the Assembly that we should protect natural open space AND develop ball fields, not sacrifice one for the other. We need to identify and implement not the easiest, but the best, solution to this problem, including spending the necessary time and money to do so.

Finally, advocates for both natural and human values were accused, once again, of being against everything. That is far from the truth. We are for a great deal: humans, certainly, but also clean air and water, natural quiet, trees, wildflowers, and wildlife for not just the most powerful species, but for all Creation.

-- Cliff Eames
Issues/State Lands Director
Alaska Center for the Environment
Anchorage

City has enough ball field spots without destroying wild lands
(Published September 11, 2001)

I am a frequent user of the Campbell Airstrip undeveloped lands, aka Bicentennial Park. I go there to crosscountry ski, bicycle, run, walk, hunt mushrooms, and walk/run my dog. I enjoy this area for its wild, undeveloped, noiseless qualities. It is one of the few remaining places in Anchorage where I can still take my dog.

I am dismayed that our community has another fight on hand to try to keep this area pristine and natural. I am adamantly against putting ball fields in this area. Our city has enough ball fields already. We need to save some land for the moose, birds, coyotes, wolves, etc. that live in the Campbell Airstrip lands. We need to preserve more wooded areas for these animals to survive. We need quiet areas to relax and unwind.

I live in this community because areas such as Bicentennial Park exist. Please keep this area in its natural state! There are other areas in our city more appropriate for placement of ball fields. Don't destroy more wooded land in our town.

-- Mary A. Vavrik
Anchorage

It would be a shame to deprive youths when park land an option
(Published September 11, 2001)

I am writing to express my support for the proposed Simonian Little League ball fields in Bicentennial Park. It seems obvious to me that following through with this option is in line with the intended use of these municipal lands, which should be made available to the residents of the municipality for various recreational uses.

The proposed park will include picnic areas, a playground and ball fields. It will also expand the parking area at the Abbott Loop trail head. All current uses of the area can continue, and no current users of the park will be displaced.

This is a beautiful and scenic spot, which is why I feel it will provide an ideal setting for these facilities. Going forward with this location for the ball fields for the Simonian Little League is also the most fiscally prudent option, as no land acquisition and significant cash outlay by the municipality is required. Given the recent budgetary concerns, this seems to be a wise path to follow. In addition, this option can provide the ball fields in an acceptable time frame (about three years).

I feel it would be a true shame to deny the residents of the municipality the intended uses of these lands, and the girls and boys of the Simonian Little League a place to learn and play baseball in such an ideal location.

-- Stan Foo
Anchorage

Bicentennial Park is not the best place for Little League ball fields
(Published in ADN September 6, 2001)

The Planning and Zoning Commission is considering a proposed amendment to the Updated Far North Bicentennial Park Master Plan making revisions to allow ball-field development within the NW1/4 of Section 10, T12N, R3W, S.M., generally located north of Zodiak Manor Subdivision and east of Abbott Loop Road. The municipal Department of Cultural and Recreational Services is recommending development of this site to include Simonian Little League replacement fields.

Far North Bicentennial Park is the last piece of untouched park land within the city. Once we allow development in one corner, next will be another corner, until all of the wilderness is gone from the city. I bought my current house mostly because of proximity to the park. I use this corner of the park year-round to walk my dog, mountain bike, run, and ski. There are so many other pieces of land available that are already denuded of trees to build city ballparks. Why cut down more trees? This park is also animal habitat. Black bears, moose, porcupines, many species of birds, coyotes and lynx (to name only a few) are prevalent in these woods.

My plea to the commission is to please consider a different location for the Simonian Little Leaguers. Only a few young children can play in Little League. Everyone can enjoy Far North Bicentennial Park the way it is.

-- Emmy Zartman
Anchorage

Park can afford 0.6% loss of land for Little League ball fields
(Published in ADN September 6, 2001)

I have lived in Anchorage for over 25 years and have used Bicentennial Park for hiking, skijoring and biking. I have been in the southwest corner of Bicentennial Park, adjacent to Abbott Loop Road and Zodiac Manor Subdivision many times.

I have no children, but am concerned about youth and providing positive activities for them. We have a responsibility to provide good, safe and supervised activities. Little League provides all of these attributes.

It is utterly ridiculous that we don't use 25 acres of Bicentennial Park for new ball fields. The park contains approximately 3,500 acres. The BLM's Campbell tract contains another 730 acres. This public open space is more then 4,200 acres. In addition, we have an incredible amount of parkland in the city and are surrounded by hundreds of thousands of acres of state and federal parks.

There is a vocal minority of NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) individuals who want you to think they are in the majority. I believe the majority of citizens in this community want these ball fields.

Bicentennial Park should be used by all of the people of Anchorage. To "lock it up" and not consider using 0.6 percent (25 acres out of 4,200 acres) for the benefit of more than 500 of our children is unthinkable.

Commission members, please use some common sense and give the youths their ball fields.

-- Victor Mollozzi
Anchorage

What part of public's no' does our Municipality not understand?
(Published August 29, 2001)

Has anyone noticed that the officials of the Municipality have the opinion that Anchorage residents are not capable of making decisions? For three years, there have been rumblings of taking a portion of the Bicentennial Park for a ball field. Questionnaires were sent, hearings were held and in each case the public said no, there are better and cheaper alternatives. Those opposed were "Anti-Kid" radicals.

The best location is an unused parcel adjoining the equestrian center on Abbot Road. This site would be cheap to develop, has great off-thoroughfare access, but, it is opposed by certain well-heeled members. Now, another hearing, prior to actually developing the park is scheduled. I guess they have to hold another hearing, even though the decision has already been made.

Reminds me of the last park robbery that occurred a while back. The council traded off many acres of prime residential real estate, just behind Service High School, to a developer for a smaller tract of swamp land off of Klatt Road. Again, it was "for ball fields." And we paid him three quarters of a million dollars to boot. The words of ex-Assemblyman Bob Bell still ring in my smarting ears. "It's a win-win situation for everyone."

Wake up Anchorage before the park is covered with condos.

-- Del Seay
Anchorage

The following was not published in the ADN. It is a comment sent to the Planning Department August 27, 2001

RE:  Planning Department Case Number 2001-123
 
I am opposed to development of Bicentennial Park lands for use as baseball fields.  I agree with the No.1 recommendation to purchase and develop additional parkland adjacent to Campbell Park (i.e. Site No.6)  according to the "Recommendation Report" as prepared by LDN for the Parks Department.  The proposed amendment is entirely against the intent of the FNBP Master Plan, and also against the majority of public comments received to date, and not in the best long term interest of the MOA.  I would like to submit the following comments to the MOA P&Z Commission.  These are essentially the same comments I already gave to LDN prior to the Parks Department public hearing....... 
 
Comments regarding "Recommendation Report"
 
Executive Summary (pg. 4)
The BLM did not display "apparent reluctance to vacate" Campbell Tract.  The BLM solicited public review and comment and responded according to the vast majority of over 400 public comments which requested the Campbell Tract remain as is.
 
Executive Summary (pg 5)
Updated Far North Bicentennial Park Master Plan clearly recommended development in the area north of Zodiac Manor be limited to low-key activities such as picnic ground, trailhead, playground or similar development.  The Master Plan also recommended development of ballfields in the Campbell Tract near the revetment road system.  As described on page 14, both of these recommendations were made with apparent knowledge at the time that the BLM would not approve ballfields near the revetment road system.  Therefore it would seem obvious that the intent of the low-key restriction on land north of Zodiac Manor was made with full knowledge and understanding that BLM probably would not approve ballfields.  Therefore current attempts to second guess the Master Plan recommendations for land north of Zodiac Manor based on BLM disapproval of ballfields are unfounded and make no sense.
 
Alternative No.1 (pg. 6)
This paragraph clearly recommends the best alternative as procurement of additional parkland adjacent to Campbell Park (site 6).  This recommendation is further supported by discussions on pg. 9 stating that although extensive development has occurred since 1985, aquisition of parkland in the Abbot Loop area has been mostly narrow creek buffer zones.  This lack of park land purchase is despite the recommendation of the 1982 Anchorage Park, Greenbelt & Recreation Facility Plan to purchase 80 additional acres of community park in the "Abbott Loop Sub Area".  Additional support for site 6 is provided on pg. 26 describing the site as central to Simonian player geographic distribution, and the potential to connect the site to the Campbell Creek greenbelt trail system.
 
Development & Procurement Costs (pg 34 & 35)
Total purchase and development cost for site 6 is $2,187,067.
Total purchase and devlopment cost for Zodiac Manor FNBP site is $1,544,362.
 
The $650,000 difference between these two total costs is likely to be insignificant to individual tax payers if approved as part of a Municipal Bond.  Purchase of site 6 would provide an actual increase in park facilities and MOA assets instead of developing an obviously controversial area which has significant public opposition to development.
 
Purchase and development of site 6 seems to be the obvious solution.  This issue should not be decided without a full public vote.  The Simonian Little League baseball field issue should be put on the public ballot for resolution.  The ballot should be bond issue to obtain additional funds for the Parks Department for one of the following 3-way ballot options:
 
(a) Purchase and develop Site #6 for $2,187,067 per No.1 Recommendation of LDN study.
(b) Amend the FNBP Master Plan & then develop subject property for $1,544,362.
(c) Do not purchase or develop property for the Simmonian Little League.
 
I also question the $1,544,362 cost estimate to develop FNBP.  Does this cost include traffic signals, sidewalks, turning lanes and other improvements that would be needed for Abbott Loop road to prevent conflict between 50 mph traffic and the increased amount of pedestrians?
 
Thank you for your time and consideration of my comments,
 
Andrew Meltzer, P.E.
State of Alaska licensed civil engineer No. CE-9596
residential address: 8409 Jupiter Drive, Anchorage, AK 99507 (333-3856) 

School grounds unused in summer, ball fields are used only in summer
(Published July 25, 2001)

"Vacancy."

Like a dilapidated motel, the sign is out, but the scene is not inviting at Anchorage ball fields nine months a year, and neighborhood school grounds all summer. Yet as some clamor for more single-use and seldom used ball fields carved out of our very precious and dwindling urban wilderness, fallow lies virtually every easily accessible neighborhood multipurpose treasure -- the school playground.

To buff up every Anchorage school ground -- safe playground equipment including skating/hockey rinks, exterior-access toilets, multipurpose field equipment, movable backstops and goals, all wrapped in a secure environment -- is to encourage and facilitate the child in all of us to be physically active smack in our own back yard. Today, sans a single chain saw.

Convene the Assembly, the Anchorage School Board, and Parks and Recreation -- all partners committed to seize opportunity, energize our abundant school resources, extinguish the "vacancy," and emblazon every school ground with a hearty "Welcome" every day.

-- Peter Mjos
Former second baseman, Little League
Anchorage

Others places make more sense for ball fields than Bicentennial Park
(Published July 17, 2001)

I agree that we need more ball fields, but not in Bicentennial Park, which is designated as an open space park and not for ball fields. The park is already being squeezed from all sides with public facility buildings, the science center and the Hilltop expansion. With the proposed Bragaw extension and possible water pipeline, Bicentennial Park will soon be nothing more than another Park Strip that won't accommodate the growing number of kids and adults that enjoy and use the park as it is.

Using resources we already have such as the Service and Trailside schools are far more practical for ball fields with their good soil and plenty of parking. Another alternative is the Polaris school that has even offered its land, which is very close to the current Simonian fields. The Simonian group says these alternatives are "inconvenient" for it even though they're just around the corner from the park land it wants to take away from other multi-user groups.

The comprehensive plan encourages open space park land and community parks in town centers, so let's use our land wisely. We cannot make more open space park land out of concrete but we can make ball fields out of underutilized developed land. For more information, go to www.kidsneedparks.org or check out the park for yourself.

-- Michelle Bradner
Anchorage

If Bicentennial Park won't work for ball fields, where should they go?
(Published July 15, 2001)

The question is really: Where is the best place to put baseball fields for the Simonian Little League?

Use Anchorage schools, and displace the youth soccer and football players? The Anchorage School District has done a good job allowing all clubs equal usage of fields, without giving any one group priority.

Friends of Bicentennial agree that it would be a shame if young ball players don't have a place to play.

The city has done its research.

Simonian has done its research.

For some reason there is a lot of talk about Bicentennial Park.

Friends of Bicentennial Park say they want a community park there but no ball fields.

If Bicentennial Park is not the best place available for ball fields, please step up to the plate and take a swing at the best place, and don't speak for ASD or Abbott-O-Rabbit Little League until there is a signed commitment from them.

-- Steven Tuck
Anchorage

(website editor's note: After the search for ballfields opened up to include more than the Simonian Little League and MOA, quite a few better alternatives have been identified. See the Land Design North report and other locations presented in this website.)

Breaking up Simonian ball fields would cause a few headaches
(Published July 13, 2001)

There are several reasons why those advocating breaking up the little league fields across several different locations may want to reconsider.

Families that have multiple children would have to decide which child's game they would watch because different-age children would be playing at different fields in different locations. The little league (or the city) would have a greater expense in maintaining the fields since travel time and equipment would have to be moved from one location to the other. The Simonian Little League would be deprived of the ability to put in a snack bar, which offsets upkeep and new equipment purchases. The locations proposed as alternatives are used, to some extent, as practice fields. If you make those fields the game fields, then you have to make practice fields to replace them. Fields need to be watered to remain playable. Over the last several years we, as a city, have retrofitted many of our old playing fields, and have built new fields with irrigation systems. The alternatives would have to be irrigated.

This problem has been several years in the making. The city commissioned a study that made recommendations and gave alternatives. We, as a community, have a responsibility to our children, and we need to make a decision. If not Bicentennial Park, and not the 84th Street site, then where and how soon?

-- Mike Walsh
Anchorage

Sorry, Simonians, but ball fields in Bicentennial Park not good idea
(Published July 10, 2001)

The far-sighted Bicentennial Park plan specifically removed the area under consideration from use as ball fields. This vision recognized that land clearing left few isolated islands of natural habitat within the urban environment.

Now Greg Magee (Letters, July 4) calls people opposed to clearing more than 25 acres in Bicentennial Park "short-sighted" and "selfish." If the Simonians hadn't "locked on" to the "free" land in Bicentennial, they wouldn't seem "short-sighted" and "selfish." Now the group is hostile because 25 acres of parking and single-use fields don't meet the definition of "community park" for many of us. One of the alternatives proposed was to use school fields until a location acceptable to all parties was acquired. The Simonians don't want to share with other users or be inconvenienced. Who's selfish?

We think there should be more sports facilities, picnic spots and parks. Look at what has been done in a public/private partnership south of Loussac Library.

As for the "not in my back yard" accusation, the proposed ball fields aren't in my back yard. If they were, I would be really upset. What could be more incompatible with a forested suburban setting than acres of parking lot and the noise and traffic of four combined ball fields? Let's work together to find another solution.

-- Jim Thiele and Sue Pope
Anchorage

If north Bicentennial Park is used for the ball fields, community loses
(Published July 8, 2001)

In his letter of June 22, Victor Mollozzi suggests that a 30-acre section of far north Bicentennial Park should be used for Simonian Little League fields and parking rather than continuing to "lock it up" as public park land.

The real "lock up" will occur if the Simonian Little League mows down the forest, which is now used as a place of adventure by kids in the area, to construct baseball-only fields manicured to the perfectionist standards of adults. The fields would be available only for Simonian use, only for two and a half months per year, and only for games. They would not even be available for practices! In the off-season, you'd be kept off so the grass can grow flawlessly for the next season. Sounds like a lock up to me.

There are cheaper alternatives, such as locating the fields near schools. The Simonians use school fields for practices now, and plan to continue. Three fields at Service High and Trailside Elementary could be modified slightly to give the Simonians the game fields they need. Service is just a two-minute drive from the proposed Bicentennial Park site.

The Parks and Recreation Commission will make the right choice when they vote to support the broader community.

Bicentennial Park is unique, and deserves to be valued and protected. For more information, see www.kidsneedparks.org.

-- Terri Pauls
Anchorage

Section of Bicentennial Park is perfect place for ball fields
(Published July 7, 2001)

I have two daughters that play ball for Simonian Little League. I would like to say: Give these kids the fields we are asking for in the southwest corner of Bicentennial Park. All we need is 25 acres to have four fields and parking to serve many children and their families for years to come. We can't use Service High or Trailside Elementary, they are way out of our boundaries plus there is not enough room to put four fields. (website editor's note: There are 3 fields at Service and Trailside and a fourth could be built. Service High is a 2 minute drive from the location in Bicentennial Park Ms. Franks prefers.) We want one location for our children, not fields split up.

Rick Dusenbery (Letters, June 30) probably has no kids and could care less what we are going through for our children. We will stand up for our league, and no one has offered us anything. (website editor's note: The Simonians have gotten quite a lot. They have enjoyed free fields for 25 years courtesy of Art Simonian, the Rotary club is building a practice field for them and the city is offering to build new fields for their exclusive use.) The park is as much ours as his. If he is tired of listening to the league then maybe he should donate enough private land to solve our problem.

-- Sandra Franks
Anchorage

Allowing Bicentennial Park to be developed is bad idea
(Published July 5, 2001)

I am opposed to putting ball fields, sport fields and/or complexes in Far North Bicentennial Park. A new long-term plan of use should be made, and Anchorage should vote on it.

The park is a treasure and should be preserved as such. Once developed, the park's wilderness will be forever lost. Development of city land is not the only measure of success and livability. Even though Europe is densely populated, many major cities have heavily frequented parks because many years ago royalty owned those lands and, therefore, those lands were not developed. In the last five centuries there have been many who would have loved to develop those lands.

If we allow the ball club to build its 20-acre complex, then how can we say no to soccer, golf, basketball, volleyball, tennis, etc. groups? And why build for the baseball group? There are already many ball clubs in town; however, for example, there is not one public indoor tennis facility.

Far North Bicentennial Park is a special nature retreat that we all have a responsibility to preserve. Let us make a long-term plan for the park and cease partitioning off the park to special interest groups and remove it from the hands of present and future politicians to use as they see fit, or to be used to repay favors.

-- C.L. Chesnut
Anchorage

Bicentennial Park is big enough to support ball fields, current use
(Published July 4, 2001)

In response to those opposed to the use of 25 out of more than 4,200 acres of Bicentennial Park and the BLM's Campbell Tract for Simonian Little League ball parks, there is another side. My family uses the park for hiking, biking, and skiing; however, those activities are not the only recreational activities we enjoy. Both baseball and soccer fill our evenings and summers. The use of this acreage will not be in vain; the park will provide a location for several hundred girls and boys to participate in healthy activities while still leaving plenty of trails to enjoy.

Using separate Anchorage School District grounds as fields is not conducive to a Little League community and its philosophy. We need four fields in one location, and none of the ASD facilities, within Simonian Little League's boundaries, provides that. (website editor's note: The Simonian little league has survived 25 years with 3 fields, other leagues have fields in separate locations.) In addition, before people offer the use of school grounds, especially schools outside the Simonian Little League boundaries, they should check into already proposed use for these lands. Furthermore, the ASD is committed to allowing several different community organizations access. (website editor's note: The little league does not want to share publicly provided fields.)

We live in a city connected to hundreds of thousands of acres of parks and recreational land. We live in Alaska and are extremely fortunate to have virtually unlimited boundaries; there is room for all recreational activities.

-- Valerie M. Johnson
Anchorage

Opposition to putting ball fields in Bicentennial Park short-sighted
(Published July 4, 2001)

This letter concerns the proposed development of four ball fields inside Bicentennial Park for the Simonian Little League. Recent letters opposing the development are short-sighted and selfish. It is "not in my back yard" (NIMBY) gibberish and smokescreens to circumvent the progress made to date in finding a solution. This "bottom of the ninth" grandstanding ignores the results of a two-year public process. It is about developing a community park for many uses for the Abbott Loop community and not just about ball fields for the Simonian Little League. A study recommended five alternatives and only one, the southwest corner of Bicentennial Park, is realistic for developing ball fields in time for the 2004 season. (website editor's note: This is incorrect, there are other alternatives in the report that will work as well as alternatives not in the report.)

My family uses the park for hiking, biking, and cross-country skiing. My grandchildren play baseball and soccer each summer. We have participated in the Simonian Little League as players, team mom, coach and umpire for many years, and if the fields were separated at different locations, our participation would be extremely curtailed. Also, using separate school grounds as ball fields is not conducive to the Simonian Little League community. It needs four fields in one location. None of the schools provides that within league boundaries. In fact, ball fields for league use is not compatible with ASD policies. (website editor's note: The little league does not want to share publicly provided fields.)

-- Greg Magee
Anchorage

Many people use Bicentennial Park all year for many different purposes
(Published July 1, 2001)

May I reassure Victor Mollozzi (Letters, June 22), who wrote "Bicentennial Park should be used by all of the people in Anchorage," that I see a wonderful cross-section of folks happily enjoying it 365 days a year, including runners, bikers, skiers and walkers of all ages?

The land Mollozzi refers to as "locked up" serves city dwellers as (1) a poor man's health club (the treadmill views are spectacular); (2) an open-air cathedral; (3) a place to picnic/socialize with friends; (4) an educational destination for viewing geology, plants, and animals; (5) a family recreation site not requiring out-of-town travel or expense; and (6) a mental health center, a place to talk out problems. The combination of beauty, fresh air and exercise reduces my stress daily.

Even those never entering the park benefit from the precious oxygen produced by its mature trees. Anchorage has an invisible carbon monoxide problem complicated by its "bowl-shaped" geography. With more than 60 elementary school yards as ball field alternatives, surely we can do better than stripping a beloved, well-used old-growth forest.

Can we afford to leave Bicentennial Park wild in a city of a quarter-million residents? I'm hoping the citizens and lawmakers are crazy enough to do just that, leaving this wild land intact, deep in the heart of Anchorage.

-- Melody Davis

Anchorage

Little League officials' whining about bad locations grows tiresome
Published 6/30/01

Here's to the Parks and Recreation commissioners who made the common-sense move and voted not to put the Simonian Little League fields in Bicentennial Park ("Commission ties 5-5 on ball field proposal vote," June 16).

I have to question the remaining commissioners' reasoning for voting yes. By any measure this a bad idea, but most importantly it's both expensive and wasteful. Why not spend less dollars and put the fields, for example, near Service High or Trailside Elementary and create something that the whole community can use and not just a handful of little leaguers?

To the Simonian Little League, I'm growing tired of hearing your statements that alternative locations are wrong for this reason or that. There have been many, but my favorite is that playing ball at a nearby school is "inconvenient." Guys, where I'm from when someone offers you something for nothing you take it, say thank you, and shut up.

-- Rick Dusenbery
Anchorage

Perfect solution for ball-field problem can be found at schools
(Published June 29, 2001)

There are good alternatives for Simonian ball fields other than the 25 acres of wooded park land on Abbott Loop Road. A good alternative provides the four fields that the Simonians desire, at less cost, with the possibility of combining uses for other groups, something that is lacking at the proposed Abbott Loop Road location.

There is a new field at Trailside School. The field at the bottom of Service High's sledding hill needs minimal improvement. The cleared area west of the track could be used. That gives three fields that could be used by the Simonians, and a fourth could be built nort