With McEuen Park ready to fling open its arms in official fashion Saturday, be prepared to utter the following three statements:

• "Holy cow! There are more people here in one day than I've seen at the former McEuen in a decade!"
• "Wonder what the anti-McEuenites think now?"
• "Wish this had been here when I was a kid!"

We've talked to dozens of park visitors in the past couple weeks and these are versions of what we've heard from almost every one of them. Considering that the park isn't even complete - and in fact, that a number of the features initially included in the design had to be dropped because of cost considerations - visitors have been blown away with what they've seen there. As opposed to its chain-link-fence-segmented and virtually inaccessible predecessor, this McEuen looks better and a whole lot bigger than the former fields. When people say it's bound to become the central outdoor gathering place for visitors and residents alike, we can't argue with them. Other than City Beach on hot summer afternoons, McEuen likely will have no rivals in popularity/Coeur d'Alene Press Editorial Board. More here.

Question: Do you know of any individuals who now support the new park after vehemently opposing it before?

---

---