IA IA - Elizabeth Collins, 8, & Lyric Cook, 10, Evansdale, 13 July 2012 - #30

[24Roses]

There's FB page for angels park.

I haven't been here in almost a full day, so I'm just seeing this picture. With the renovations to the island, it almost seems to me that someone knows that the girls were taken to the island and possibly held or killed there. Especially with the Lyric and Elizabeth "memorial building". Just IMO. It does seem like it will be a beautiful rememberence when completed.

 

[otto]

I haven't been here in almost a full day, so I'm just seeing this picture. With the renovations to the island, it almost seems to me that someone knows that the girls were taken to the island and possibly held or killed there. Especially with the Lyric and Elizabeth "memorial building". Just IMO. It does seem like it will be a beautiful rememberence when completed.

I think Maiden Lane is where a renovation was needed ... picnic tables, parking, some tree clearing (not all: shade), some paddleboats would have been nice ... but who wants a park and playground next to the sewer pump station and drainage pipe? That area, where it appears the children were abducted, will remain as unsafe tomorrow as it was yesterday.

 

[otto]

I haven't been here in almost a full day, so I'm just seeing this picture. With the renovations to the island, it almost seems to me that someone knows that the girls were taken to the island and possibly held or killed there. Especially with the Lyric and Elizabeth "memorial building". Just IMO. It does seem like it will be a beautiful rememberence when completed.

How is that fifth gazebo near the water going to stand up, especially with that break in the dock?

 

[foxbluff]

There's FB page for angels park.

Thks for the link, Bunny.

To all: Have the # of gazebos increased to five now? (Isn't that a 5th gazebo on the dock?) IDK...

At any rate, I'm delighted to see the "gray blobs fringed in blurred red" which I take to be volcanoes...

 

[24Roses]

I'm :fence: about if Elizabeth or Lyric was the sole target. If so, wasn't there any other opportunities when one or the other was alone. Why wait until either girl was with someone else? Did the perp do this to confuse LE & the family on their identify and if it was targeted/random.
Also, why renovate the entire island? Why not just make some renovations to the existing park & beautify it. I agree that Maiden Lane could be cleaned up and used as part of the memorial.

 

[threecrazykids]

I've read some of the comments on the news websites and some people are saying that this major renovation will make the park safer for children. The problem I see with that is that Maiden Lane is still where it was before, it is still as secluded as it was when the children were abducted, and the trail is going to be just as enticing as it always was. That is, renovating the Island will not prevent children from cycling to the drainage pipe and it will not prevent a predator from potentially abducting children at Maiden Lane and taking them to 7 Bridges Country Park to be murdered.

:rocker: That's exactly what I posted several pages back. If they wanted to make the park less "scary" then Maiden Lane should have been leveled and the entire fencing removed from the backside of the lake where vegetation grew to create the "trap". That makes more sense than scalping the island where no one bothered anyway. I don't know why anyone would think the island would be scary, yet the "trap" area we're gonna just leave alone. :banghead:

 

[otto]

Maaybe someone can check this with the organizer's illustration and let me know if I missed anything. I don't see the benches and bricks anywhere. Is that South of the Center, between the building and the dock? I know that the paths and shrubs are missing, but I'm going to add that last (smaller files to work with).

 

[otto]

Thks for the link, Bunny.

To all: Have the # of gazebos increased to five now? (Isn't that a 5th gazebo on the dock?) IDK...

At any rate, I'm delighted to see the "gray blobs fringed in blurred red" which I take to be volcanoes...

I had always read that it was five gazebos. Who would have thought of adding a floating gazebo!

 

[otto]

Where's the ramp to pull the paddleboats out of the water ... winterize the park? ... or will the paddleboats be stored in the parking lot over the winter?

 

[otto]

I'm :fence: about if Elizabeth or Lyric was the sole target. If so, wasn't there any other opportunities when one or the other was alone. Why wait until either girl was with someone else? Did the perp do this to confuse LE & the family on their identify and if it was targeted/random.
Also, why renovate the entire island? Why not just make some renovations to the existing park & beautify it. I agree that Maiden Lane could be cleaned up and used as part of the memorial.

I don't think that's a good idea. I think we need to see the current project completely finished before any more trees come down. What is happening with the trees that were taken down?

 

[Unique444]

I don't think that's a good idea. I think we need to see the current project completely finished before any more trees come down. What is happening with the trees that were taken down?

Any more??? Looks to me there's about 4 left

 

[otto]

Any more??? Looks to me there's about 4 left

Maybe six.

I suppose I'm wondering if the trees are all laying dead on the Island, if they've been cut and sold for firewood, or if they've been hauled away to a dead tree place. There are too many trees to just leave them where they are, but we haven't seen truck hauling away the debris. I wonder what's next. I hope the Island doesn't turn into a muddy quicksand type substance that is unstable until the trees are replaced.

 

[B4igo2it]

During my recent visit to the Evansdale Chamber of Commerce website, I learned there was a bridge damaged in the 2008 flood ... sure would hate to see all this hard work, donations, etc. @ Meyers Lake washed out by a flood.
Evansdale has a lot of fun community events. I was seeing who was doing what prior to the cousins vanishing. Major events in June. Oddly, didn't see a tree company as a chamber member. http://evansdalechamber.com/archive.htm

Flood water in Evansdale, IA - YouTube

 

[otto]

During my recent visit to the Evansdale Chamber of Commerce website, I learned there was a bridge damaged in the 2008 flood ... sure would hate to see all this hard work, donations, etc. @ Meyers Lake washed out by a flood.
Evansdale has a lot of fun community events. I was seeing who was doing what prior to the cousins vanishing. Major events in June. Oddly, didn't see a tree company as a chamber member. http://evansdalechamber.com/archive.htm

Flood water in Evansdale, IA - YouTube

Loads of bridges have been washed out in the numerous Iowa floods - national disaster funds floods. The bridge on 287th street (something like that, it runs along 7 Bridges Park) washed out and as a result the park was no longer used as a recreation spot.

Lyric and Elizabeth were found at a former recreation park - day programs for children, boating, picnics, organized activities.

 

[otto]

When I saw the fence/gate on the dock, I wondered if the vision was one of 10s of children lined up for a chance to ride the paddle boats ... in the leech infested lake.

Regarding the gazebo naming, I'm familiar with Faith, Hope, Charity (1 Corinthians 13:13), but in the naming scheme, charity was dropped and Love, Heal and Peace were added. I wonder if that naming scheme is somehow connected with their religion.

 

[Squeeze]

There were houses at the lake before the interstate was built, so it's more like the other way around. The interstate was built near their homes and the manmade Island provided a sound barrier. It happened at the same time - about 1980.

I read that Drew and City Council agreed that Drew would tag the sick trees. It was a neglected Island in terms of "people use", but it was a wildlife habitat, a sound barrier, and the trees prevented soil erosion. I doubt that the manmade Island was ever intended for "people use." We'll see ... it's too late to turn back.

There were a few houses near the lake prior to the interstate, but the majority of them were built after. I have a relative that lives near there, and their house was built in '83, and right about the time the interstate opened up, and the interstate wasn't built overnight. I never said that the interstate was or wasn't there first, I just said that these people live near an interstate. You have to expect that there is noise. The island is/was a sound barrier for some, yes. But it really doesn't matter one way or the other for the people on Lake Avenue or Evans Road, in that general direction. And as I said, there are trees between the interstate and the lake.

I agree with what you're saying. I don't like to see a wildlife habitat destroyed, either. And yes, it is too late to turn back now. Which is why I'm of the opinion that we should wait to see what the finished product looks like. In all honesty, I'm sure that my relatives that live there are fuming about this, because that's just the way they are. I might feel the same way. They don't like change (that's why they're lived there for 30 years). In fact, I live to the south of the interstate, and I can hear traffic noise from a couple of miles away, depending on what way the wind is blowing from. There are plenty of trees between the interstate and my house.

 

[eileenhawkeye]

I don't know why they want to make it safer for children because I don't think that children should be going to this park without supervision. If it was a park with playground equipment, fine, but I think that the fact that there is nothing to do at this park besides going on a boat or go swimming...It could be very enticing for children. Even if they know how to swim, IDK if I would want my (fictional) children swimming/boating in some lake without any adults. I know that even when I was in HS, my mom said I wasn't allowed to swim in any pool without an adult watching. But I don't have kids so maybe I am being too unrealistic/overprotective.

 

[eileenhawkeye]

There were a few houses near the lake prior to the interstate, but the majority of them were built after. I have a relative that lives near there, and their house was built in '83, and right about the time the interstate opened up, and the interstate wasn't built overnight. I never said that the interstate was or wasn't there first, I just said that these people live near an interstate. You have to expect that there is noise. The island is/was a sound barrier for some, yes. But it really doesn't matter one way or the other for the people on Lake Avenue or Evans Road, in that general direction. And as I said, there are trees between the interstate and the lake.

I agree with what you're saying. I don't like to see a wildlife habitat destroyed, either. And yes, it is too late to turn back now. Which is why I'm of the opinion that we should wait to see what the finished product looks like. In all honesty, I'm sure that my relatives that live there are fuming about this, because that's just the way they are. I might feel the same way. They don't like change (that's why they're lived there for 30 years). In fact, I live to the south of the interstate, and I can hear traffic noise from a couple of miles away, depending on what way the wind is blowing from. There are plenty of trees between the interstate and my house.

What is wrong about not like change if the change is going to negatively affect one's quality of life plus property values?

 

[Squeeze]

During my recent visit to the Evansdale Chamber of Commerce website, I learned there was a bridge damaged in the 2008 flood ... sure would hate to see all this hard work, donations, etc. @ Meyers Lake washed out by a flood.
Evansdale has a lot of fun community events. I was seeing who was doing what prior to the cousins vanishing. Major events in June. Oddly, didn't see a tree company as a chamber member. http://evansdalechamber.com/archive.htm

Flood water in Evansdale, IA - YouTube

I don't think the flood water had much affect on Meyer's Lake itself. I could be wrong. They were more worried about the levee giving way and the rest of the town being flooded.

 

[B4igo2it]

Flood cleanup continues in Evansdale, Cedar Terrace - July 9, 2010
In Evansdale, reports varied from five to seven inches of rain falling during a three-hour stretch Wednesday morning. Cleanup for many homeowners will take much longer than the storm that caused the problems. Black Hawk County was named a state disaster area as a result of the flash flooding.
http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/fl...cle_5a525ad8-8b63-11df-9351-001cc4c03286.html

Awesome video & photos of the 2008 Flood
Cedar Valley Flooding - YouTube