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Al OFFICE OF THE MAYOR CITY of SOUTH BEND ROGER O. PARENT, Mayor COUNTY -CITY BUILDING SOUTH BEND, INDIANA 46601 Mr. John Oxian 1533 Lincolnway West South Bend, IN 46628 Dear John: February 17, 1983 AREA 219 284.9261 As I have often stated, I very much favor the preservation of the Frederickson house and its contents as a museum. I agree with many others in South Bend that such a museum would be an incomparable treasure for our City. The need to combine such.preservation with compliance with _ the terms of the will, so that we may have a Frederickson Park, however, has caused much concern and discussion. Some of the Park Commissioners, Jim Seitz and I have been wrestling for some time with this problem. I am glad to tell you that I think we may have struck upon a way which will give a better opportunity for the house and contents to be preserved. We are continuing to explore this idea in further, detail now. The approach is this. The will appears to permit the trustee to lease the house and its contents. The trustee, therefore, could lease, with an option to buy, the house and contents to Southhold, or another organization which planned to preserve it. The house would then not be standing vacant and deteriorate but could be main- tained. In fact,income from tours could be used for its upkeep and rehabilitation. The problem of money for purchase of the house and contents would also then be longer-term and could be handled with more deliberation. The final decision, of course, is the trustee's. But, the City stands ready to facilitate this arrangement, or if this does not come to fruition, another method satisfactory to the trustee. I look forward to having both a Frederickson Museum and a Frederickson Park in South Bend. Since ROP: pdc CC: Trustee, Frederickson Estate Board of Park Commissioners OI Parent