Wieder Park Has a Higher Purpose

* Re “Parks’ Future: Sports Fields or Open Space?” (March 30):

The people of Huntington Beach and our council and representatives in Orange County have for years waited for the Harriett M. Wieder Regional Park to be constructed as a linear park connecting Huntington Central Park to Bolsa Chica and the Pacific Ocean.

Each day many of us run, walk or drive by the sign announcing the intended use of this land. How dare anyone attempt to forgo a promise and the will of the people and [use] the land for a baseball diamond?

One should not have to sit in the bleachers of a youth soccer game to get the spectacular view that currently exists unobstructed by fences, dugouts and shouting fans.

I sympathize with the children whose parents want more space for athletic fields and feel they have the right to it because they pay taxes, as do I. This is not just a “not in my backyard” issue. One has only to go to the property along Edwards Street and Seapoint Avenue and look out over the wetlands and the ocean to spot a hawk hunting or the emergence of spring lupine wildflowers to find the priceless value of this property.

When our children grow up and leave the field, I feel certain they will be drawn to share nature’s delightful gifts with their own children and will seek out this sacred space.

Harriett M. Wieder Regional Park must be built as it was originally intended: nature’s reminder that peace comes from her constancy, her cycles and her surprises.

MADELYNN RIGOPOULOS

Huntington Beach