Hendersonville News - Letter to the Editor 8/25/2006

To The Editor: I am very concerned about the possibility of Chimney Rock Park being purchased by a private entity either for resort/housing development or for an "enhanced" park (which really means amusement park).

We have enough amusement parks in the region and we have more than enough housing developments/ resorts.

State ownership is the only way to ensure that this incredibly unique property and the heritage that the Morse family developed is preserved in perpetuity.

No matter which private enterprise purchases the property, a private operation must make a profit, and if that means selling off lots, adding light shows or roller coasters, that is what will happen.

Private entities are market driven, period. The state has no requirement for making a profit.

Even if a single individual purchased it and built one home while the land is temporarily preserved, the access to this beauty by the public would be gone.

When that individual dies, or finances change, the property would be in danger again.

Please go to the Web site savechimneyrock.net and call or e-mail the governor, the Morse family and the State Department of Parks to make Chimney Rock a state park.

Roberta Proctor
Lake Lure