All around Spokane’s High Bridge Park, you see signs of the coming prosperity. In the Peaceful Valley neighborhoods near the park, especially the streets with Spokane River views, upscale homes and condos are replacing well-worn cottages.

Sandifur Memorial Bridge links the south side of the river with the north side, and this north side may soon come alive with the massive Kendall Yards development. A planned whitewater park, spearheaded by Friends of the Falls, will be constructed beneath the bridge. It will attract to the area middle-class folks suffering from kayak fever.

The High Bridge Park area encompasses about 200 acres of city parkland; this figure includes People’s Park on the shore of the river and parkland across Sandifur Bridge on the north bank. High Bridge is twice as big as Riverfront Park, the city’s well-maintained crown jewel.

In contrast, High Bridge Park has suffered for decades from neglect and abuse. At night, it is a popular place for people who need darkness to cover their dark activities, including drug dealing and illicit sex.

In Monday’s newspaper, Ruby La Fleur, a 62-year-old grandmother who lives near the park, said that she is sick of explaining to her grandchildren why they see condoms and hypodermic needles in a park known for its natural beauty.

La Fleur said, “I don’t want them walking through the bushes, saying ‘Grandma Ruby, what’s that toilet paper? What are those rubber gloves for? What are those pictures?’ “

In the 1950s, city leaders dreamed big dreams for the High Bridge area. Plans included a zoo, softball fields and even a railroad museum. In 1955, the National Congress of American Indians was given permission to put up a “teepee village” during its annual convention; 500 Native Americans from throughout the country were invited to camp on what had once been ancestral land for regional tribes.

The bigger dreams didn’t become reality for High Bridge, and controversy dogged the park. During Expo ‘74, citizens complained about “hippies” who hung out there smoking marijuana. Police broke up impromptu rock concerts.

About that time, People’s Park earned a reputation as a nude beach, and the bushes in the 200-acre area provided camouflage for sex between men, in a time before homosexual relationships were out of any closet at all.

Spokane’s police department, parks and recreation department, and Spokane Regional Health District officials have known about the park’s problems for years. Some efforts have been made to clean up the park through increased police patrols and the addition of family-friendly activities, such as disc golf.

Turning High Bridge Park from an X-rated space to a G-rated space will require collaboration by police, parks, the health department and concerned citizens. But the solution should not include waiting for the wealthier folks to move into the area and force the issue.

It is unacceptable that lawlessness in High Bridge Park is, as one police officer put it, “just kind of one of those knowns.” Neighbors in the area deserve the protection of the law, and High Bridge Park deserves its long-overdue cleanup now.