History: 1920 Improving Meadow Park
“A Fund Started for Improving Picturesque Meadow Park”
Lyons Recorder June 14, 1920
Referring to the article in the last issue of the Recorder, wherein it was stated in substance that Lyons had been honored in entertaining a great church conference of distinguished workers at a picnic in Meadow Park, but that the condition of the park made it necessary to offer apologies, Lyons needs to apologize to no one. Meadow Park is a beautiful plot of mountain soil surrounded by picturesque rock formations and dotted with beautiful shade trees. It is also subject to nearly complete overflow from the North St. Vrain River whenever the watershed it drains receives a heavy enough downpour.
The park is the property of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company, said company having refused, when approached in the past by this association, to leave the park to the town of Lyons, the town to pay a purely nominal sum sufficient to protect legal title in railroad company, but to maintain the park as an asset to Lyons keeping same free from camper’s debris and perhaps making other improvements and uses as the people of Lyons might desire to make of it, not inconsistent with any possible future needs by the railroad for the park as a terminal site.
The railroad company, however, after the flood of last summer, stated that if we wanted to rebuild the bridges, or improve the pavilion and clean up the grounds, we could do so. They were not going to do any of these things, as the increased use of automobiles had killed the summer excursion business over their line to Meadow Park.
As the writer sees it, the only “cleaning up” Meadow Park needs is to rebuild a foot-bridge across the river, straighten up some of the buildings and take about half an hour to picking up a few stray pie-plates carelessly left behind by the pleasure seekers. The driftwood left there last summer has long ago been used up. There is six months labor for quite a crew of men, if any effort is mdae to pick up the area of boulders washed in on the north side.
Thru the co-operation of Mr. E. P. Sweeney, local Burlington agent, we have been able to secure permission to use and advertise the park as a free camping site for auto parties.
To bring this matter to a head let us start a fund by popular subscription to raise enough money to build a foot bridge across the river on the west side of the park, put in a few tables and cooking over, etc.
Yours for a better Lyons and a more useful Meadow Park.
……………..O. J. Ramey
“History of Meadow Park,” booklet published when the park was reopened after the Flood of 2013 renovations. Information gathered by LaVern Johnson. Cost: $10 Call LaVern (303) 823-5925 and pick up at the Lyons Redstone Museum on Wednesday afternoon. $10
