UI failed to maintain Macbride

What a sad outcome, to read that the University of Iowa will abandon its longtime lease for the Macbride Nature Recreation Area. From all I’ve read, the blame for this outcome falls squarely on the university. For instance, “many roads haven’t been repaired in more than 65 years”; how interesting that the UI has had the lease for 66 years. Why have the roads not been repaired?

Most all the maintenance problems described by the UI are the result of them not having kept up their end of the deal. It sounds like a longtime tenant trashing their apartment and then moving out, leaving repairs to the landlord. Brad Freidhof with Johnson County Conservation is 100% right to conclude that “instead of dealing with those issues as preventive maintenance and annual upkeep, they were allowed to degrade.” Shame on the university.

Jo Pearson

Cedar Rapids