12/16 - Jekyll isn't broken, doesn't need 'repair'

ajc.com > Opinion
Click-2-Listen
LETTERS: By Dory Ingram
For the Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/16/07

Jim Langford's op-ed piece ("Jekyll Island development: More vacationers could enjoy park," @issue, Dec. 10) makes the same tired, phony assertion that others have made ad nauseam, others who would force an agenda that exploits "Georgia's Jewel." That assertion is that beautiful Jekyll Island State Park is somehow broken and in need of repair.

Has anyone stopped to consider whether visitation is down because several hotels are literally down, demolished due to poor lease management practices by Jekyll's stewards, the Jekyll Island Authority? And has anyone mentioned lately that replacement of those properties is imminent, independent of Linger Longer?

Rebuild those hotels, count the revenues and ask yourselves if the average Georgian really needs a 63-acre, nouveau-riche multi-story village blocking the view of what was once pristine beachfront, and gutting the interior of pristine maritime forest and natural wetlands. Give it up, Linger Longer. The citizens of Georgia are much too smart to fall for this.

DORY INGRAM

Ingram is Atlanta metro coordinator of Initiative to Protect Jekyll Island.