BOSTON -- The conditions at many Massachusetts state parks are so poor that they can be downright unsafe to visitors.
NewsCenter
5's Janet Wu reported Sunday that some residents mat not be able to
enjoy the parks the way there were intended to be.
"If
you look a little bit closer, look at the granite landings -- half the
park doesn't have any water system," said Patrice Todisco of the
Esplanade Association.
"It's
been a long, slow deterioration," said Katherine Abbott of the
Conservation Recreation Campaign. "We don't mow the grass. We don't
pick up the trash. A lot of what we own is opening to the public
anymore, and if it's open, it's not in good condition."
It's not just the Esplanade.
Netting
is the only thing that separates falling tiles from 1 million tourists
each year as they peer at America's First Rock in Plymouth.
Joggers, pedestrians and commuters depend on 100-year-old, deteriorating steel beams to hold up Longfellow Bridge.
Granite
monuments built by George Washington are slowly being washed away by
acid rain and neglect. Campgrounds that sleep 4,000 visitors a night
often are not staffed around the clock.
"We
had the first park in the Boston Common. We invented the playground,"
Abbott said. "Massachusetts has gone from being a leader in this field
to being last. We now spend less on parks and recreation in
Massachusetts as a percentage of personal income than any other state
in the country."
Over
the past three years, the state's parks, beaches, pools and rinks have
lost 158 employees, most of them maintenance workers. It has a backlog
of $750 million worth of projects.
"The
roof leaks like a sieve. There really hasn't been anything done here
last 30 years or so," said Norman Smith of the Blue Hills Trailside
Museum. "If you look at the railing behind us here on the deck -- just
to get into the museum here -- if someone pushes, kids could fall off."
About
150,000 visitors still come to the museum annually. But most exhibits
are empty because there's no money to replace the aging animal
population, which is just as well since the pens no longer meet federal
standards.
West
of Route 128, six state rangers govern all of the state parks -- that's
320,000 acres. The state Department of Conservation and Recreation
budget has been dwindling since the 1970s, but just in the past five
years, it's been slashed 28 percent.
"This is your park. You own it. This real estate belongs to you," Todisco said.
What
would it cost to fix the obvious? About $4 million to $6 million to
replace dilapidated steps on the Esplanade, $2 million to put tiles
back on the roof of the trailside museum and repair a building nearly
untouched since it was built in 1959 and $110 million to replace the
beams connecting Cambridge and Boston.
Some
of the delay is due to political bureaucracy, or inertia, but mostly,
Abbott said she believes, it is short sightedness on Beacon Hill and
Main Street.
"If
you are unlucky enough to live next to an area that is not maintained,
it can have a negative impact on your property value," Abbott said.
"We're losing population. We're not the attractive place we once were.
You and I can go to lunch at McDonald's and spend more money than the
state is spending on us right now to maintain these parks every year."
