Former Curator Opposes Lease of Land at This Is The Place State Park
None by Eric Ray
(KCPW News) Operators of This Is The Place state park are considering a proposal to build an office building on twelve acres of leased land. They say the income generated by the lease would help save the financially strapped historical site.Kenyon Kennard, former curator and historic consultant at This Is The Place state park, says this sets a bad precedent. He has organized a citizens group in opposition to the plan and launched the website www.savetheplace.net.
Kennard says rather than use land leases and amusement attractions to draw visitors to the park, historians should be used to save it. He says in order to truly be a living history park, This Is The Place state park needs someone with bona fide credentials to run it
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1. Dick James said:
This is a wonderful place to see American history - or at least it was before the cutbacks. The problem is of course financial. This problem has grown out of a situation where practically NO ONE KNOWS THE PLACE EXISTS!! They don't need a gasoline-powered choo-choo. They need a marketing program to tell the neighborhood, the community, the state, the nation, world visitors about the wonderful experience they could have by visiting Old Deseret Village. And then - when they come - make sure there is somthing there (a qualified staff to recreate life of the time) so that visitors will leave feeling warm and informed.
2. David W. Fairbanks, MD said:
Please get rid of the commercial developers and turn the place back to the historic true nature it deserves.