Sec. 8-1. - Authority to acquire land for park purposes—Generally.

The city shall have power to take and acquire lands, either by deed or devise, and to receive and accept all donations of money by gift or legacy, for the purpose of providing and maintaining one or more open places or parks for the promotion of the health and recreation of the people of the city and its vicinity; and that lands within the corporate limits of the said city, or within five (5) miles from the boundaries thereof, may be purchased or acquired by, and conveyed or devised to, and the title to and ownership of said lands be vested in the said city for the purposes aforesaid.

(17 Del. L. ch. 204, § 1; 25 Del. L. ch. 170, § 1)

Sec. 8-2. - Same—Power to condemn; borrow money, etc.

Whenever a majority of the members of said board of park commissioners shall recommend to the council the acquisition of any land for park purposes, the council shall, by a vote of two-thirds of all the members thereof have power to purchase the same. If an amicable arrangement satisfactory to two-thirds of all the members of the council cannot be made for such purchase, then such land, which shall be adequately described, may, under a resolution passed by two-thirds of all the members of the council, be taken by the city for said purpose in the same manner and subject to the same conditions and proceedings as are prescribed for condemning and taking land for the purpose of extending, widening, laying out or opening streets in the said city; provided that nothing contained in this article shall authorize the condemnation of any water rights and provided further that no appropriation shall be made by the city council for the purpose of land for park purposes outside of the present city limits, unless funds therefor shall have been provided by contribution, until after the sum of twenty thousand dollars ($20,000.00) shall subsequent to this date have been expended in the purchase of land for small parks within the present limits of the City of Wilmington. Any sum of money which may be agreed upon, or assessed, as the value of such land, or any portion of such money, the payment of which shall not have been otherwise provided for, shall be included in the next annual estimates and appropriations of the council; and the city shall have power to borrow such sum by note or bond if necessary, in anticipation of the next annual appropriations, provided that the sum so to be borrowed in any one year shall not exceed twenty thousand dollars ($20,000.00).

(19 Del. L. ch. 216, § 1; 25 Del. L. ch. 170, § 2)

Sec. 8-3. - Jurisdiction of city.

For the better preservation of the public peace and order, the municipal jurisdiction of the city shall extend over and include any park which shall be laid out and opened under the authority of this article and also include and extend over the territory lying between such park and the boundaries of the city; and all laws, ordinances, rules and regulations of the said city shall apply to and be enforced in and about the said park and territory as effectually as if the same were included within the limits of the said city.

(17 Del. L. ch. 204, § 6)

Sec. 8-4. - Construction, etc., of streets, railways, sewers, etc., in, under, etc., parks.

No county road, street, railway, sewer, water or gas pipes, telegraph or telephone wires, shall be laid out, opened, extended over, under, above or through any park under the control and care of the said board of park commissioners without their approval and consent.

(17 Del. L. ch. 204, § 3; 52 Del. L. ch. 255, § 1)

Sec. 8-5. - Sale of intoxicating liquors and meetings in parks.

No intoxicating liquors shall be sold in any public park, and no meeting of any kind, assembled through advertisement, shall be permitted in any such park without the license or permission of the board of commissioners; nor shall any gathering or meeting for political purposes in any such park be permitted at any time.

(17 Del. L. ch. 207, § 7)

Secs. 8-6—8-25. - Reserved.