LEWISTON – Filling in the city’s canals part way, using them for parks, green space, walking trails and such is just an idea, Jim Bennett said Monday night.

Bennett presented the idea, and a rough artist’s drawing of what the area could look like with a new green space snaking around the downtown.

“But we’re just putting it out there,” Bennett told a group of residents and city workers at the meeting in the Multi-Purpose Center. “There’s nothing magic about this idea. It’s just something to get the conversation started, to get people thinking about what could happen there.”

The meeting was the third in a series of meetings, part of the city’s strategic planning process. Bennett said next his staff will present their draft of the plan to councilors on March 10.

“One thing we know: There are a lot of opinions about what should happen,” Bennett said. “So whatever we come out with, we know that the finished plan isn’t going to satisfy 100 percent of the community.”

The city began work on a strategic plan in December. The goal is to provide a long-term set of rationales for future decisions, from planning and zoning to economic growth and redevelopment.

Council President Tom Peters said he expects councilors’ decisions considering the fate of Bates Mill building No. 5 depend on what that plan says. That massive saw-toothed-roof building at Main and Lincoln streets is last part of the original Bates Mill complex still owned by the city. Suggestions about the future of the building have ranged from tearing it down to using it as a convention center.

According to plans, the canals around the building would be covered with green space, dotted with parks and lined with walking trails. The canal would be partially filled in, deep enough to keep water flowing but shallow enough so fences and barriers surrounding the canals could be removed.

The goal would be to create a place for people. Andrew Harris of LA Arts said it would fundamentally shift the feeling of the entire city.

“It would no longer be an industrial area, with an industrial feel,” Harris said. “It would say, this is a sunny place for residents, a beautiful city. It would be something very different from industrial Lewiston, and I think you have to be prepared for that.”

Larry Handley of 83 Maple St. said he’d be concerned that everyone in the community would be welcomed.

“Is this a place I can bring my children, or is this someplace you’d have to pay to enjoy it?” he asked. “Is it going to be parks and paths or little shops I can’t afford to shop in?”

Others said they liked the idea of using shallower canals for ice skating in the winter. But Ed Plourde of 25 Coburn St. warned against giving up on the canals too quickly. The city does still use them to generate electricity, but doesn’t make any money doing it.

“You have to be very careful that you’re not giving away water rights without being very careful,” Plourde said. “There is nothing (Florida Power and Light) would like more than to have us abandon those canals and any electrical generation on them. If there are ways to make the job more efficient, it might be worth keeping them.”