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Heads up, Legion Park disc golf fans and fans of family-friendlyThomas Park.  The City of Marion Parks and Recreation Department has plans to give land at the top of the park's wooded hill to real estate developers interested in building condominiums. This is being called a "land swap" and is an effort on the part of the Marion Parks and Recreation Department to rectify its own mistake in encroaching on private property when it did not abide to the original outlay of the new bike trail as planned in conjunction with surveyors.

This proposal will impact the quality of Thomas Park by: 

1. Destroying a lovely green space enjoyed by hundreds of local citizens each week.

 2. Destroying a natural habitat that is home to white tail deer, foxes, raccoons, morel mushrooms, wild phlox and more. 

3. Eliminating a decades old tradition of children sledding on the Thomas Park hillside. 

4. Negatively impacting the city park's ability to provide light, air, and open space to its users due to multi-family residential buildings overcrowding the park space. 

5. Raising concerns about the safety and well-being of park users as multi-family residential buildings create a denser human population surrounding the park's main area of use. 

6. Raising concerns about water flow, drainage, and soil erosion due to construction on the hill.  

This proposal will impact the disc golf course by: 

1. Eliminating the course's first few holes, necessitating that disc golfers walk several hundred yards into the back of the park, restricting accessibility. 

2. Disrupting the flow of the course from hole to hole. 

3. Degrading the caliber of play at Legion Park, which is now a highly regarded, professional course that is home to an annual tournament; bringing to Marion over 150 professional and amateur players from throughout the Midwest each spring.   

4. Destroying the natural setting of the course which has a combination of wooded and open shots along with elevation changes that are enjoyed by hundreds of local, recreational players. 

In signing this petition, we respectfully request that the City of Marion preserve Legion Park and Thomas Park as they are today, specifically foregoing the land swap involving the proposed hill area.

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