thesis statement & bibliography

Bibliography

Jacobs, Harvey M. "Fighting Over Land: America's Legacy ... America's Future? (Cover story)." Journal of the American Planning Association 65.2 (1999): 141. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 21 July 2011.

Scott, David, and Andrew J. Mowen. "Alleviating Park Visitation Constraints through Agency Facilitation Strategies." Journal of Leisure Research 42.4 (2010): 535-530. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 21 July 2011.

Loukaitou-Sideris, Anastasia, and Athanasios Sideris. "What Brings Children to the Park? Analysis and Measurement of the Variables Affecting Children's Use of Parks." Journal of the American Planning Association 76.1 (2010): 89-107. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 21 July 2011.

  After talking to Lisa Sherrer, it made me think about how the barn was before the fire happened and how scared people were when they saw it. There are several people who want to tear down the barn because they feel like it has no meaning and it's just sitting there and being treated like a garbage can. Many people don't want to stop and help out our community. Mainly it's because of laziness or they don't care. Once we let one thing go, then we let everything go and that could cause our city to be a dump or not have old monuments to look at. No one wants to think about their city as a dump. For those of you who have walked around Tom Sawyer Park has most likely seen the barn that is surrounded by a fence that is along the walk path. You can tell it has been pretty damaged and that it is not in its best shape. The park should try to gather people to help clean up the barn along with the park.

         There was a massive fire about a year ago that almost burned down the entire barn. It took about 50 firefighters from about 6 different fire departments and over an hour just to get the fire out. Luckily, it stayed up unlike other things that got burned down to the ground such as some other old buildings, a greenhouse, and many trees. However, it seems as if people are treating it like it's a giant garbage can. I’ve been inside of it and it does not look good. There are papers and broken down computers thrown everywhere. Also, there are some school desks that have been completely destroyed. It seems as if no one cares enough to clean it up. They have also put a barbed wire around the barn to prevent trespassers to enter and damage it even more. However, people still find their way through that and get in.

         There are probably many memories in the barn and we shouldn't treat it like it's nothing and has no meaning to it. It is part of the park so ignoring the barn is basically ignoring the park. It wouldn't be that hard to clean it up and not that long. In this paper, I will discuss the importance of the park and how helping the barn and keeping it up will help the park and the community. Also, to keep history remaining and how important it is to see where places started from. There may be people who agree that it would be best to tear it down, but if we tear it down then we're getting rid of meaning. It's interesting to have old monuments around to think about what was here before the park was built. If one person helps and cleans it up, that could bring in many other people to join and want to help out. We could easily make the park a more beautiful and welcoming place with the help of others.