BIDDEFORD — Some of the hands are large; some are small. Some are young hands, as yet unlined by the advance of years. Some are older hands, sturdy hands that worked hard, held babies, cooked meals and pegged clothes on the line.

Eleven hands are on the bronze lantern, lighting up a neighborhood that once, not so many years ago, was a family-oriented place. But crime, fueled by poverty and destructive behavior crept in and made it an unhappy place.

That is changing, folks who live there now and some who were raised here say, because enough people care to try and make it better.

Three old tenement houses came down and a pocket-sized park, edged with an ornamental fence and planted with roses, was installed. It offers a view of the city and the spire of St. Joseph’s Church that looks to be so close, one could almost touch it.

And the lantern, lighting the night sky, is a centerpiece.

Unveiled publicly for the first time Saturday, the bronze lantern is a sculpture of entwined hands holding the light for Williams Court and the surrounding neighborhood.

Nestled close by is a granite bench, a spot to sit and reflect.

Folks who live in the neighborhood, and those who used to live there, stopped by for ceremonies marking the unveilings, including two families touched by tragedy ”“ 28 years apart.

Among the hands that grace the bronze statue in perpetuity are three members of the Greene family, Doris, and her grandsons, Chandler and Devin, whose brothers, Gage and Derek were gunned down just steps away from the site, over on South Street, in 2009.

The hand of Cecile Parent, who raised her family and lost a daughter in the neighborhood, is among those entwined in the sculpture, along with the hand of another daughter, Diane Dutremble, who spoke for the family at Saturday’s ceremonies. The granite bench was made possible by the Parent family and Saco & Biddeford Savings Institution and honors Cecile and Donatien Parent, both whom have passed away, and their 14-year-old daughter, Donna. The young girl died in 1981 after fainting as she was running home from a baby-sitting job and fell face down beside the curb.

“This park means an awful lot to my family,” said Dutremble as she addressed those assembled at Williams Court park.

“It was a good idea,” said Chandler Greene, as he stood with his family members.

The park, said Mayor Joanne Twomey, shows the positive side of Biddeford.

Councilor Bob Mills, whose own hand and that of his young son, Trenton, are both in the sculpture, spoke briefly.

“I consider this hallowed ground,” said Mills of the park. “A lot of positive and negative things happened here.”

The development of the park, Mills said, shows what the city can do.

For the Parent family, the unveiling was bittersweet ”“ the granite bench that honors Donna Parent and her father, Donatien Parent, who died 14 years ago, also bears another name ”“ that of Cecile Parent, who lived here for 40 years, who moved from the neighborhood 14 years ago, after her husband died. Cecile, who was an eager participant in the planning for the park and whose hand, cast in bronze, stretches high to clasp the lantern globe, died in July, before it was unveiled.

The park was created when the tenements came down, all part of a city project funded by $500,000 in Neighborhood Stabilization Program grants through the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said Linda Hardacker, Biddeford’s community development coordinator.

Neighbors and interested citizens got together several times to discuss the park.

“We wanted something to represent the neighborhood,” Hardacker said of the lantern.

Lorraine Moreau, who lives in the neighborhood, recalled how Williams Court used to be.

“It was a nice neighborhood group,” she said, with friends and family members close by. People cared about each other and shared happy times.

But the neighborhood changed, and trouble crept in.

Lately, matters have improved, but it still has a ways to go, she said.

Moreau said she enjoys the feeling of freedom she gets when she walks in the park and enjoys the view of the city.

“It’s beautiful,” she said.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 or twells@journaltribune.com.