McEUEN: What took so long?

In 1976, my new bride and I lived on 11th Street, near Sander's Beach (another kind of loss for the city) in a small apartment. Like now, it took us both working jobs to make ends meet each month. We were young and hopeful for the future. On the Fourth of July, our country's Bicentennial celebration, we were too poor to celebrate other than walking a few blocks to McEuen Field and sit on a blanket. The warm dusk faded to darkness and we sat on the outfield with hundreds of other families and oohed and ahhed at the annual fireworks display.

As we walked home, we talked about how nice it was to have a great park in that part of town. I recall commenting that it would some day be snapped up for parking or some kind of use besides a park. I was right although I thought it would be doomed sooner than this.

I don't live in Coeur d'Alene anymore and the last time I was downtown was for a long ago anniversary in a big tall building there. A mediocre overpriced dinner and a stroll up Sherman to see stores with lots of expensive tourist trash for sale and not many tourists to buy it, mixed with vacant forlorn store fronts soured me on the area. There was nothing there to buy for the average person. Oh yes, overzealous cops and predatory parking patrol drones did nothing for the event either.

Folks, relax. McEuen is already a goner. By the time the Big New Plan was revealed, it had been arranged in secret well in advance and set into motion. Like most of the downtown area, nothing there is for the local taxpayer, except the bill for this bad idea. The new plan is to draw more tourist types to The Resort/downtown area, more customers for a room or boat ride and maybe sell a few condos. Tennis players, boaters, fishermen and baseball players, and anyone who just enjoys a big open space... you are all in the way of the Big New Plan and will get shuffled into oblivion. Unless this idea is put to the general public for a scheduled vote, it will be a tragic loss for the citizens of Coeur d'Alene. Don't hold your breath waiting for this.

I don't know who will pay for the Big New Plan to become the insult to the public it is destined to be, but I'm sure glad I'm not a property taxpayer in the city. By the way, my family does shop in other parts of the city, enjoy ourselves and annually leave lots of my money in the city limits, but never downtown. This pitiful assault on McEuen and the boat ramps will ensure my consumer dollars will continue to be spent several miles north forever.

RUSS BOHN

Athol