Muscatine

I work in the office at Greenwood Cemetery. I have been hearing about this small movement to have the city repair or replace the steps leading from Hershey Avenue up the bluff to the cemetery.  

I think the city should not repair or replace the steps. I think that the city should instead demolish the remaining steps. They are and will always be a liability for the city for as long as they exist. If repaired or replaced, they will become another financial burden to maintain. In any condition, they are a safety hazard. Not just for someone falling, but for criminal activity, too. The old metal handrails should be removed and sent to a scrap yard. The concrete should be jack-hammered and the concrete ruins left on the hill to hinder any attempts to ascend of descend. The concrete could be removed, too, if it was felt to better return the wooded area of the bluffs to their natural beauty.

 I have worked here for almost two years and have on several occasions, while driving around the outer edges of the cemetery, encountered people in cars that suddenly drive away as I approach. I am not 100% sure, but I would bet they were up to no good. What activities do you think the steps will attract?

It's bad enough people have thrown away furniture and appliances by dumping them over the bluff from the cemetery. I can imagine the trash people will leave behind along the steps.

Someone has recently removed the "Closed - No Trespassing" sign and barricade from the bottom of the steps. That is criminal mischief, isn't it?

I also know someone wrote a letter to the newspaper and described in detail the number of steps and the condition of the steps. That would mean he has been up or down the steps. That is trespassing, isn't it?

 The steps served their purpose when not many people had motor vehicles. If people really need a way to walk up the hill to the cemetery, it would be safer on Fletcher Avenue. The steps are just too costly for the city, in my opinion.

You must not have a child who has to walk up Miller's Hill (Fletcher Street).   It's a real death trap.   I hope they do repair the cemetery steps.  They served a purpose not so long ago.  And can serve the same purpose today.  I would guess that most of the vandalism comes from people who drive into the cemetery, not walk into it.   I drive on Miller's Hill.  Encountering a kid walking up or down when I come around the curve there is a real adrenalin rush.  Something needs to be done before someone is killed.

I would be for repairing the steps. As a child I played there many times. My grandfather was a many-year employee of the cemetery; grave digger (by hand then), maintenance/mower, etc. I have a lot of memories from there and that time. I'm probably prejudiced in my opinion.