McEUEN: Fits LCDC to a T

It would be hard for me to improve on the letters of support written by Joe Morris and Mary Lou Reed for the conceptual McEuen plan. I will, however, offer some history from the LCDC-Coeur d'Alene Urban Renewal Agency perspective.

I was a member of LCDC for 10 years, from the beginning, until I retired. Early on, we realized that as the years went by, LCDC would have the ability to help fund projects that the city could never afford on its own.

We studied cities that had created magnet areas that drew locals and visitors alike. Examples are Boise's Grove Plaza, San Antonio's Riverwalk and Spokane's Riverfront Park.

We agreed with consultants that Coeur d'Alene had an underutilized gem in McEuen Park and thought that someday the city would want to do something spectacular there. We started buying properties adjacent to City Hall and Tubbs Hill, knowing that they'd be important to a McEuen makeover.

We dreamed the big dreams that Joe Morris talked about in his letter. We saw that cities throughout the world that had underutilized waterfronts transformed those areas into people welcoming areas that revitalized their communities.

It is time to start the McEuen makeover. This is a huge project and it might take different shapes, as costs and resources are evaluated. Let's move ahead now, providing the greatest uses for the greatest number of people. We'll look back with great pride that we had the courage to move forward!

PAUL H. ANDERSON

Coeur d'Alene