This week the Windham Town Council put a halt to the current aspirations of a town park. A central public gathering spot for all generations is something that Windham very much needs and deserves. If this process was ill conceived from the beginning it was due to it lacking a quality of vision to think both far ahead and across all the towns’ current and pending needs and potentials.

In effect its ill conception was not process but by what was perceived to be achievable with as little cost as possible and not what really is the best in terms of location and the broader needs of the town. I agree with the council’s logic in this regard. However, the need for a town park, which is based on a fundamental need to strengthen the social fabric of our community, persists.

It is in the air that the location of the public works facility on Windham Center Road would be a better location for a town park. I would strongly agree. It is connected to the school fields. There would be less disruption to neighbors. It has a combination of flat grades and slopes. The road is safer than Route 202. It is near town hall, the library and it would be connected to the school fields. Children can access it without ever going on the street. As well, hikers can easily hook up to the cross country trails. It can allow for access to the Pleasant River which holds a beautiful stretch of rips and ripples that is a bastion of brook and brown trout and sports some of the best fly fishing in southern Maine and is a less-than-appropriate place to locate a public works facility next to.

As for the public works facility, it is far from adequate for a town our size. It is uncomfortable, cramped and in many ways dangerous to work in. It should have been replaced or severely upgraded years ago. It does not do justice to the men and women that work there, nor to our town. I can also say much the same about the Windham Public Safety Building. It was built for a town half our size, is overcrowded and in desperate need of expansion.

I applaud the desire to take a more comprehensive view and to act on it. So let’s look at the whole picture and work for what the town needs now and into the future. If any community is to prosper, its leaders must be visionary and act in anticipation of the inevitable. Our populations will expand, new houses will be built and businesses will continue to locate here. As this occurs, services will be stressed. As far as public safety and the public works-bus garage is concerned, expansion and upgrade is a need that is critical.

Town leadership must explore how these critical infrastructure needs might be addressed by transference, renovation and when necessary building new facilities. Investing in the infrastructure is a prudent move. Building costs will not decrease and needs will only escalate.

We must look at upgrading and moving public works and allowing more space for public safety. We should also realize that if we want to attract businesses that can bring good jobs and offset our residential taxes then we will have to invest in infrastructure and quality of life. I hope that our council can take the leadership to make those investments, have that vision, and look at the town in terms of not only what cannot be done but what should, must and can.

We need a common place where as a community we can watch our children play; where we can all enjoy a picnic, an outdoor film series or a local bluegrass band; where one could hike along trails beside a beautiful river, and cast for trout. A place for our youth to board and bike, to hold a festival in the summer and ice skate in the winter. A place that is all of ours. A place to meet a friend with a cup of coffee…then do some more fishing!

Michael Shaughnessy, a former Windham town councilor and chairman of the Windham Democratic Committee, lives in Windham.