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In many ways, the decision to construct parks along the Huron River was the easiest step for the city of Ann Arbor. Once that decision was made, the city still had to acquire the land, shape the landscape so it was usable by the public, and fit the new parks into a coherent system. Amazingly, most of this process took place in less than a decade between 1902 and 1911.
While the city may have wanted to build parks along the river, many landowners along the river had other thoughts. Several made money by renting their land to local industries. Others saw an opportunity to turn a tidy profit by selling to the city at inflated prices--sometimes four and five times what the city thought the land should be worth. Except for some land donated by the Michigan Central Railroad, the city failed to come to agreements with most of the landowners. Thus, the city turned to condemning the property, a procedure by which the city claimed the land for public use and paid the owner what the city thought was fair value. The Henning property acquisition is recorded in City Council proceedings from 1902.
After the land was acquired, a significant amount of work was required before the public could make use of it. While landscape architect O. C. Simonds recommended the parks be left natural by retaining the native vegetation and by not mowing, a significant amount of work was needed to build roads which were considered essential to the public's enjoyment.
Finally, the Ann Arbor Park Commission prepared a report on the necessity of connecting the city's parks. Two street plans were proposed. Both consisted of boulevards--wide streets with parks on both sides and tree-lined medians. The first proposed to connect Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti along the Huron River; the second wound through Ann Arbor and connected the parks within city limits with the new riverside parks. The new Park Board was also featured in the Ann Arbor Daily News.
The result of this work by laborers, the city government, and landscape architects, is the riverside park system that today consists of Fuller, Broadway, Riverside, Island, and Cedar Bend parks.