At a recent Lewiston City Council meeting, the Visible Community brought cards signed by over 300 downtown residents requesting the restoration of the Maple Street playground. The city removed the playground equipment when the Ritz Cafe building was demolished, promising to replace it when the space was again safe.

They have not done so.

Much of the equipment was donated in good faith by local benevolent clubs.

Stating that most of the old equipment seems now unsalvageable, the city administrator said there is no money in the budget for replacing the park. This in the same week the city announced it would spend over $1 million to benefit the development of luxury apartments at Great Falls.

What does this say about fairness and how we value the needs of all of our citizens? As affirmed by over 300 residents, the Maple Street playground was key to the quality of life in that area of downtown: a quiet, pocket park, well-used by families with very small children who live far from Kennedy Park, which is a wonderful but very large and busy place.

With their petition, residents expressed their strong concern that important resources for their children not be sacrificed to misguided decisions about downtown development and broken promises.

I urge the city to make the responsible, fair and enlightened decision to restore Maple Street playground. And I urge the Sun Journal to cover citizen participation at City Council meetings more responsibly.

This discussion was never reported, again making downtown residents “invisible.”

Peg Hoffman, Auburn