It's difficult to imagine any objection to replacing a weed-strewn eyesore with a riverfront park and boat ramp. But in Methuen, no good work can proceed without at least one objection from a city councilor.
Last week, the Methuen City Council voted 6-2 to accept $250,000 in state grant money to build a park and a boat ramp on the former Bea's Sandwich Shop property. The property is along the Merrimack River near the Route 110/113 rotary.
It would have been more profitable for Methuen for the site to have been redeveloped as commercial property. But that option went by the wayside in 2003 when the city under then-mayor Sharon Pollard purchased the land and dilapidated building from the Yorke family for $512,000. The Yorkes did not want to sell to a commercial interest and preferred that the city would buy the land for a park that would serve as a kind of memorial to the sandwich shop.
So instead of a tax-earning private property, the city was saddled with an expense. The least it can do is make the best of it.
The idea for the park and boat ramp has been around at least since the 2003 purchase. But a lack of funds has meant next to nothing has been done with the property, other than the demolition of the building and the placement of a granite bench memorializing the past employees of Bea's.
The council's acceptance of the state money means work on the park could begin as early as next spring. Finally seeing something done with this property will be a welcome relief.
Voting against accepting the money were councilors Jeanne Pappalardo and John Cronin. Pappalardo, who represents the West District of the city, opposes the idea of a boat ramp. She said she's worried about the effect on traffic and parking in the neighborhood, among other concerns. Pappalardo said she probably would have supported a park without a boat ramp.
It's hard to believe that a mere boat ramp will cause much disruption is what is already a predominantly commercial neighborhood. And the park is certainly preferable to leaving the vacant site as it is.
The Bea's saga illustrates a great deal of what holds Methuen back. Nostalgia is one thing; an obsession with the past is another. A bygone sandwich shop should inspire fond memories, not a public memorial. The focus on the past combined with the inability to make most decisions without rancor and bitterness is a formula for stagnation.
