Peoples' Park

• Father Bill McGee had spent a year studying at Berkeley (1968-69) and People's Park was named for the one found in that area. It was the people of Michigan Tech who built it on property owned by St. Albert the Great and was the area between the church and the Student Development Complex. Tech students were a different breed from what was found on many of the other campuses in 1970. Many of us continued to go to class during the strike, and the park was a positive reaction to the tragic events that took place at Kent State in Ohio. The undeveloped wooded area was cleaned up of underbrush, a small stream was dammed to make a pond, the church's flagpole was moved across the parking lot to the park, but the flag was later stolen, and some old mining cars were placed there. We also did some work along the front of the church to blend that area into the look of the park as that stream flowed through a culvert and past the building's flowing fountain on the front lawn. The water ran in the open ditch along Upland Road.Both Fathers McGee and Shiroda had great relations with the community and there were materials and equipment donated by local businesses and community members. I hesitate to name any because I am certain that I never knew all who made this happen and it would be a shame to miss some of them. Also, so many donors were silent about their gifts.-Greg Switek
5/2/2012 12:25:06 PM by Anonymous

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• Yes, I remember this well. I was a Chapel Rat up at St. Al's when this occurred. As I recall, there was a meeting of campus activists at St Al's after the shootings at Kent State. Emotions were high and there was a lot of anger and confusion. The question was How do we react to the shootings?". Suggestions ran the gamut - everything from peaceful marches through Houghton & Hancock to burning down the ROTC building. It was then that Fr. Bill McGee offered the property across from the church to be turned into what became "People's Park". I remember him saying that we needed to respond positively and peacefully. So, for the next 4 or 5 days, there was a steady stream of students (Toots. as we were called then) up and down "cardiac hill" clearing brush, landscaping, planting flowers and basically turning the overgrown piece of land into the park. Later, rumor had it that a letter was sent from the group to the Michigan State Legislature with a book of matches stapled to it, stating that while we had the means to a violent reaction we chose to be positive and productive. Maybe an urban legend, but it made a lot of us feel pretty good about what had happened.One additional note worth mentioning. I've written about this in the past but it bears repeating. While the media was interviewing then President Smith about the park, a lone figure came up the hill to work. He wore jeans and a hooded jacket and fit in with everyone else. He went off to a corner of the park, worked for an hour or so, finished and simply left without any word. The person was Harold Meese the Dean of Students. As you can tell, that left quite an impression with me. The weekend showed how unique and special these two men were - Fr. Bill and Dean Meese.-Ken Kamlay"
5/2/2012 12:25:58 PM by Anonymous

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