Please do not give up on this piece of Niles history. I grew up in Niles, and I remember Main Street hill was filled with all the shops anyone would want, no need to go to South Bend, no need to go anywhere except Niles. That’s all gone now.

We (siblings/friends) would go to Island Park and have a great time. There was good walleye fishing on the downstream point, plenty of room to let the kids play, swings, merry-go-round, charcoal grills to cook on, etc. I feel bad for Mr. DiCostinco for living in the Fourth Ward and never taking his grandchildren there. I took my children there a lot and they loved it.

Speaking of historic beauties disappearing from my hometown, the Dowagiac Creek Dam. Why? If you’ve never hunted ducks or fished or canoed above that dam, you’re missing out. If you’ve never jumped in the spillway when they opened up and floated down stream for a couple hundred yards or tubed downstream or fished for Brook Trout in that creek, you’ve missed out on a great time. That’s a beautiful island also.

One more thought: repair the bridge and build a V shaped diffuser on the upstream point of the island to divert the high water around the island.

I left Niles a long time ago (Clark closed) and retired from the U.S. Army in Georgia. I do come back home several times a year, and just shake my head at what’s become of the Niles I grew up in. I do plan to move back there someday, and I want to come home to a Niles to be proud of.

Leave Island Park and the Dowagiac Creek Dam a valued piece of Niles.

ROBERT SIMMONS

Hinesville, Georgia