About this time last year, we asked readers to nominate their “gems” of Lewiston-Auburn. Our area’s natural beauty and the places that celebrate our environmental splendor stood out as popular nominees.

Apple Sass Hill, for example, and Thorncrag Bird Sanctuary. The Androscoggin River and Great Falls, too. About the only thing missing was a state park, an oversight because L-A hasn’t one to call its own.

But not for much longer, perhaps.

Last week, a delegation of Androscoggin County lawmakers and officials made a powerful case for creating a new state park in Turner, on 2,500 acres of riverside conservation property known as Androscoggin Riverlands.

It’s a wise choice for a site, given the natural transition of untamed land to the stewardship of the Department of Conservation. Creating a Riverlands park would maintain the land’s public character and access, while also preserving its environment, which can be threatened as unmanaged conservation land.

Proponents point to its eco-tourism potential, and cite the important statistics – some 2.1 million visitors, $55 million spending, more than 800 private jobs – that Maine’s state park system was estimated to support last year.

This great argument for the Riverlands park cannot be underestimated.

In this area of Maine easily reached from north and south, a top-notch natural attraction could prove a rousing success, especially if it provided draws for tourists beyond natural beauty alone.

The park’s greater value, however, is calculated with more than tourist dollars. A park could provide some community pride, become an attractive asset for new residents and businesses, and be a boon for the river.

Let’s face it: the reputation of the Androscoggin as a polluted industrial river requires a stiff scrubbing. Although the river still has challenges, it has made great strides – the presence of a state park along its banks would be stirring validation of its improvement, and bright future.

Outdoor opportunities, as well, are often cited by influential studies, like Brookings, as critical for attracting and keeping the youthful, creative economic class with such potential for L-A. This isn’t to say if we build, they will come.

Rather, if we don’t build it, they will go somewhere that did.

Like most everything, though, the viability of this plan boils down to money. Given the state is filling a $200 million budget crater, it’s hard to imagine a new park surviving the desperate accounting now occurring in Augusta.

While we urge legislators to appropriate every penny they can spare, we ask supporters to explore every possible funding alternative. This park proposal is too meritorious to wither because of tight state finances.

This shiny new gem would be the perfect addition to make L-A sparkle.