Coeur d’Alene did more than pass the library and public safety bond elections Tuesday.

The sometimes fractious Lake City celebrated the outcome of a united library campaign that involved leading Republicans and respected Democrats, library supporters and community center advocates, downtowners and county residents, Duane Hagadone, individuals and business owners, and, most importantly, young families. They buried their axes in something other than one another.

Coeur d’Alene appears poised to tackle other challenges: upgrading public land along the waterfront, establishing an education corridor on the Spokane River, continuing to revitalize downtown and rehabilitating Midtown. Signs of progress can be seen all along Northwest Boulevard, the city’s western entrance. The momentum and collaborative spirit that has been building under Mayor Sandi Bloem’s administration came to a head in the successful bond elections.

In the past, the town has warred over proposals for libraries, community centers and Duane Hagadone’s memorial garden.

Twenty years ago this spring, Coeur d’Alene had a chance to convert the two brick buildings of the old high school into a library, a community center and a senior center at Seventh Street and Montana Avenue. But the Kootenai County Property Owners Association prevented the measure from winning a supermajority by dividing the community with an eleventh-hour flier opposed to the $3.2 million ballot issue. As a result, the historic buildings were torn down, and Coeur d’Alene has been without a community center since 1981.

In 1997, the community flatly unified against a proposal by resort owner Hagadone to help build a public library and a botanical garden on McEuen Field. Two years later, the property owners association joined hands with athletic club owners and Concerned Businesses of North Idaho to stop cold an attempt to build a $6.3 million community center.

Now, Coeur d’Alene will build a library downtown – and has an outstanding chance to land a $25 million Kroc grant to build a community center under the auspices of the Salvation Army.

Many things had to happen to get to this point. Hagadone had to withdraw plans for another downtown garden, because they could have undermined the bond votes. He did. Library supporters had to pull together a diverse group to sell their measure and run a picture-perfect campaign. They did. Athletic club owners had to be placated so they wouldn’t fight the prospect of a Kroc center. Not only were they, but they donated $5,000 to the seed money being raised for the center.

In 1985, myopia cost Coeur d’Alene an opportunity to address a variety of public needs.

Since then, the seniors have opened their own center near the town’s medical core. The library has moved once into a renovated building and now will move again into a state-of-the-art building downtown. And a Kroc center could be added to an expanded Ramsey ball field complex. The city made the last two projects possible by having the vision to buy property for them.

Vision no longer is in short supply in the Lake City.