What you might not know about McEuen

The year was 1956. Coeur d'Alene was in economic doldrums. The lumber market was slow. The 50 motels only filled in the summer. City population seemed to have leveled off at 16,000. Downtown was dormant.

The flat land between Front Street and Tubbs Hill had been a sawmill, until it went bankrupt in the Depression.

In 1937, the city purchased the mill grounds in an abortive attempt to create a municipal-owned diesel power plant. In 1956, a dirt parking lot was the only thing on the flat land between Front Street and Tubbs Hill.

Across the country, new shopping malls had been the hottest thing in retail in the post-war decade. The downtown businessmen looked south and saw a golden opportunity for a dramatic stimulus.

Over a two-year period, a plan was developed to create a corporation named "the Plaza," and secure financing to buy the land and build the shopping mall. In the spring of 1956, the businessmen made an offer of $100,000 in the name of the Plaza to the City of Coeur d'Alene, to purchase approximately 4.6 acres between 3rd and 6th streets, from Front Avenue south, close to the toe of Tubbs Hill.

At that time, state law required a vote by the citizens to approve the sale and transfer of city property. After preliminary discussions, the city council on May 19 voted 6-2 to put the Plaza offer up to vote on July 31.

Soon after the first news of the Plaza proposal, opposition developed, initiated by Art Manley, who saw the sale as a loss of land that could be used by the public. A group was formed named the "Lakeshore Development Committee," chaired by Orrin Lee, former president of North Idaho Junior College.

Committee members included myself, Art Manley, Ed Johnson, County Surveyor Ray Kindler, Eileen Lund and Mae McEuen, who, with her husband Virgil, owned what is now Petersons' grocery store on East Sherman. Acting City Recreation Director Red Halpern provided us advice and a meeting place in the recreation building, which was on the property to be sold to Plaza.

Ed Johnson and I are the only committee members still around. There is no file or campaign material 57 years later. However, the full-page Coeur d'Alene Press newspapers in bound volumes for the summer of 1956, found at the city library, provide the paid-for political advertisements and some news stories. Ads stating "Vote Yes" were numerous, and ranged in size from small to half-page to full-page on the eve of the election.

Although outspent probably three to one, our committee countered with several "Vote No" ads. The Plaza pushed the $100,000 cash payment to the city, plus estimated $25,000 new taxes per year, the lighted and paved downtown parking for 730 cars, an increase of 400 parking spots. According to Plaza, this would be the first improvement in 30 years. That charge was accurate. The flat land had been used for circuses, sporting events, an airstrip, and housing dorms in World War II.

By 1956, only the unpaved parking area remained, though Red Halpern and his recreation department had drawn up plans to create a ball field and tennis court on the flat land. These plans had been approved by the City Planning Commission.

The differences between proponents and opponents of the Plaza were sharp: Commercialize with a shopping mall the flat area between Front Avenue and Tubbs Hill, or keep the land public in the hope that it could all be used for non-structured, open space, recreation, and enjoyment.

Proponents of the Plaza engaged in one unsubtle misrepresentation: Only 4.6 acres of city land would be sold, which amounted to only 4 percent or 1/8th of the total 37 acres.

We responded to show that the 37 acres included Tubbs Hill, and that the 4.6 acres to be sold occupied almost all of the flat land. Tubbs Hill was privately owned by Idaho Water Company and several individuals. Commercialization of the flat land could lead to opening up Tubbs Hill to residential development on and around the hill.

On July 31 the citizens voted an impressive rejection of the Plaza: Yes, 945; No, 2082. On Aug. 7, the city council confirmed the vote.

Mayor Perry Christianson told Orrin Lee that the city accepted the plan presented by the Lakeshore Development Committee for landscaping and improvements.

In coming years, the parking lot was paved, with the downtown merchants and the city splitting the costs. Through leadership and persuasion, Director Red Halpern and his plans for the ball fields, tennis court, playgrounds and boat ramp filled the flat land with monetary contributions from service clubs and matching federal grants.

The first ball field was named after Mae McEuen, who had died of cancer while chair of the City Recreation Commission. "McEuen" later became the name for all of the flat land.

The sole post-election contribution of the Lakeshore Development Committee was to plant Ray Kindler's donated eight-foot spruce tree (which later became known as the Freedom Tree) to block road access to Tubbs Hill.

However, credit must be given to Mae and Art for their vision of a future public park. They led in acting politically, so that we do not have a 50-year-old shopping mall between Front Street and Tubbs Hill.

What we have had for most of those years has been, and will be, a park that far exceeds the hopes and expectations of any of us who were involved in the city election in the summer of 1956.

Scott Reed is a Coeur d'Alene resident and attorney.