DFO: Take Care With McEuen

Mayor Sandi Bloem and the City Council are walking into a mine field as they begin the process to develop a final plan to reconstruct McEuen Field. They’ll get it done this time. The table was set for the revitalization of that hallowed area by construction of the new library, new residential area nearby, and new commercial area across Front Street. Reworking of McEuen Field and downtown parking are two remaining pieces of an ambitious agenda to change the face of downtown. But I don’t envy the Bloem administration as it moves forward. In the 25 years that I’ve been here, I’ve seen one dust-up after another involving McEuen Field or the public waterfront, including Duane Hagadone’s two attempts to build a memorial garden in memory to his parents (on McEuen Field and later Sherman Avenue). Coeur d’Alene residents are deeply suspicious of moves by community leaders to “fix” McEuen Field. More below.

Many would rather see the green space remain as it is than see the wrong thing added to it or taken away from it. Although I’m also wary, I consider McEuen Field capable of far better public use. However, I know that administration critics are on the sidelines wishin/hopin/prayin for a misstep by the Bloem administration as it turns its attention to McEuen. You heard what a commotion they made when one of them discovered that the dilapidated tennis courts had been removed. A bad misstep would give them a far better stick than the issue of urban renewal to beat locally elected officials with in the 2011 election. Mayor Bloem knows all of that. She knows where the land minds are. But that doesn’t mean she’ll make it through the process unscathed — DFO .