Hodgden St. Steps Ltr Eisbach'sRECEIVED
OIHAR-7 PM4:21
780 West Locust St.
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~ ~March 6, 2001
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City Council Members
City of Dubuque
Dubuque, IA 52001
Dear City Council Members:
We wdte this letter to you as concerned citizens and homeowners who have resided at our
present address for twenty-four years. Our home is located at the foot and across the street
from the Hodgden Street city steps. Pdor to this address, we lived at 2186 Hodgden Street, just
at the top of the Hodgden Street city steps. As you can see, we have had an interest in these city
steps since 1969.
We have recently seen that these city steps are closed, and probably closed on a
permanent basis. We hope you will change your minds and repair these steps so they can be
reopened to the citizens of Dubuque.
Our main reason for wishing them to be reopened is for security purposes. When the
steps are closed and not used, the weeds and trees along side the steps are not tdmmed back.
This allows for a very darkened and bushy area that seems to attract persons of all ages who
wish not to be seen, daytime and especially at night. We see children playing there and other
young persons lounging around with music playing and engaged in other not-so-proper
activities. We have seen beer carried into these areas and have seen the empty cartons later to
prove it. There have even been camp fires in the woods on both sides of the steps. At night we
have seen lights flashing around and we know and can hear persons there. A neighbor has even
found sleeping bags stored in these woods along the steps. When the steps are open and the
greenery trimmed, there is less of this activity to be seen.
We have had reason to believe there were drug activities occurring in this same area.
Several times neighbors have called the police when suspicious activities were taking place. We
have never heard whether anyone was actually caught in these operations, however.
Persons engaging in any of the above listed activities park their cars or bikes in the lots
on either sides of the bottom of the steps and then proceed up the steps. When there are weeds
and bushes and trees closing in on the steps, they have a very good protection from persons at
the top or bottom of the steps who might be able to see them. If these steps are not maintained,
it will become one big "woodsy" area and who knows what will take place at this location.
These steps also provide an access for persons wanting to get from Clarke Drive to West
Locust Street without having to go all the way to Madison Hill or up beyond Clarke College. quite
a few college students use these steps, as do other persons for commuting reasons or even just
for exercise. There is an all-connecting bus route available at the bottom of these steps and
quite a few younger students use the bus coming and going to our city schools. They would have
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no access to Clarke Drive and beyond if these steps were permanently closed. We need these
steps!
We just ask you to simply repair the steps, We don't need any outlandish city
engineering plan costing many dollars to figure out what to do with these steps. They just need
some cement construction work and the promise of keeping the weeds and bushes along side of
them tdmmed.
These steps are a valuable asset to the beautiful history of the City of Dubuque. Many
times we see toudsts taking pictures of these steps, as they view the older parts of our city. We
can look at many of the history books of our city and see pictures of the city steps, the Hodgden
Street steps included. Please don't let them fade into anticluity!!
Thank you for your consideration and approval of the reconstruction of the Hodgden Street
Sincerely yours,
Mr. and Mrs, Peter J, Eisbach