The U.S. Coast Guard has never attempted to conceal its interest in acquiring Riverside Park, so its latest request to buy the 18.6-acre park or a good portion of it from the city of New London isn't surprising at all.

This time the city should seriously consider the offer.

Riverside has long been the stepchild of the city's extensive park and public-spaces inventory. Just 6 square miles, New London still boasts numerous parks, play fields and green belts. But Riverside, located along the banks of the Thames River immediately south of the Coast Guard Academy in the north end of the city, has been mostly neglected in recent decades.

This is due in part to its location. Tucked away behind a working-class neighborhood in a far corner of the city, it is unknown to many in New London. Many who do know of it avoid the park, because it is so isolated. The park's terrain is not ideal. It is sloping and wooded with rock outcroppings. And while it overlooks the magnificent Thames River, visitors are unable to access the riverfront because a pedestrian bridge over the Central Vermont Railway tracks is so dilapidated that it has been closed for years.

Riverside supporters complain the city has neglected the park, and in large measure it has. New London has limited resources and devotes its park dollars to other, more visible and populated parks, which frankly makes sense.

New London may be able to salvage the best of Riverside if it can negotiate a deal with the Coast Guard to sell it the bulk of the property while reserving a parklet for the neighborhood and river-view access for everyone.

The Coast Guard says it wants the property for future expansion of the academy. Mayor Rob Pero said there will be a public hearing before the City Council makes any decision, but that it might be possible to sell a portion of the park and leave the riverfront vista open to the public.

The mayor has been in touch with Rear Adm. Scott Burhoe, the academy superintendent, and said it's his understanding the Coast Guard is more interested in the park than its shallow waterfront. One alternative proposed by the Coast Guard is to buy 17.1 acres and leave a 1.5-acre tract as a parklet for neighbors near Adelaide Street.

Mayor Pero suggested that if inclined to sell, the city should bargain for better than that. New London should try to keep the waterfront, or at least a portion of it, he said, and develop a public river walk or boardwalk.

It's a good idea. The Coast Guard is already a good neighbor to the city. Its cadets volunteer for myriad community service projects, including tending to Riverside Park. The academy would have the resources to maintain the property and secure it. Even if New London took better care of Riverside, it's doubtful attendance numbers would ever rival Calkins, Bates Woods, Greens Harbor, Mitchell Woods, Toby May or several other city parks.

It is a unique property acquired as a public place 117 years ago, when the city's focus was different than today. Riverside deserves the respect it had in its heyday, and the Coast Guard can give that respect back. If New London can secure the waterfront and a manageable neighborhood park, it should seriously consider the offer.