Among the items that did not make the cut in the State's budget is a piece of land the Boys and Girls Clubs of Alaska says has been open to the community for decades.
Local lawmakers secured $4 million for Waldron Lake in Midtown Anchorage, but it did not survive a veto.
Supporters of Waldron Lake said they need to look at other options before it's too late.
The private property is owned by Boys and Girls Club but has been open to the public since it was donated by Marci Waldron-Trent in 1972, but the organization said although it wants to keep the land open to the public; it needs to sell the land to keep its operations going.
That’s why they were hoping the State would give $4 million to the Municipality of Anchorage to purchase this park from the Boys and Girls Club.
The organization would maintain it for 20 years and it would remain open to the public.
Because the funds for the project were vetoed, Boys and Girls Club said it has no choice but to sell it and the Waldron-Trent family said they're very disappointed.
“What I can also say with great certainty is that Marci Trent was a gracious lady,” said John Trent, the step-son of Marci Waldron-Trent. “It was her intent for this field to be in the public domain.”
The Governor's office said, considering the budget already contained significant funding for many youth recreational facilities, Gov. Sean Parnell vetoed this project.
It joins nearly $412 million in budget vetoes.
“Anchorage asked for quite a number of park maintenance appropriations. They can’t even fund their own maintenance of existing parks right now,” said Parnell. “I felt like if the city wants to add a new park to the City, at this point, the City will have to make that appropriation because I’m still struggling to get state money to pay for the maintenance of city parks, which is an unusual place for the state to be in to begin with.”
Supporters of Waldron Lake said they are looking at other options like finding another benefactor who would purchase the land and leave it as is, or grants.
