Some things in New London never change.

Take, for instance, the proposed sale of Riverside Park.

New London has been considering selling or giving away all or part of the park petty much since the time it was created in the early 20th century, with donations from two of the city's most prominent citizens.

Over the years the park did indeed grow smaller, first in 1915, when the city gave a strip of the park's waterfront to the state, for what was then a grand scheme to build a steamship terminal. Another small piece was given away in 1949, when the Coast Guard Academy got a strip of land to build a chapel.

In 1961, a big part of the park, 13 acres, was taken by the federal government by eminent domain, for more academy expansion. The city was paid $36,000 at the time.

The Coast Guard has made overtures from time to time since then to buy more of the park, the most recent being this year's bid to purchase the remaining 18 acres.

Other proposed uses for the park have included luxury housing, suggested in 1982, an OceanQuest marine sciences park, put forward in 1994, the relocation of the Children's Museum of Southeastern Connecticut, planned and then abandoned in 2000, and a marine sciences magnet school, rejected in 2005.

I found, in a search of The Day's archives, that the park has been both loved and abused, in perhaps not quite equal measure, over the years.

There have been reports of crime and vandalism as far back as 1950, when a front page story reported on the work of "hoodlums" who broke a water fountain, split open a brick barbecue fireplace and broke some streetlights.

In 1962, addressing an ongoing vandalism problem, the city limited access to the park to city residents and set up an entrance pass system.

Riverside Park has had its highs, too, over the years, especially race day for the Yale Harvard Regatta, when it became a favorite and crowded viewing spot.

In 1948, the recreation department said the beach at Riverside Park was one of the most popular in the city, attracting an average of 190 bathers a day. There was a full complement of lifeguards, and parents liked to bring their small kids there to swim.

In 1984, a $70,000 restoration breathed new life back into the park, and one columnist for this newspaper offered that it was her favorite city park.

Efforts to convert the park to other uses have often led to objections that it would subvert the wishes of the original donors.

In 1994, then City Manager Richard Brown decreed, because of restrictions that were part of the original gift, that the proposed OceanQuest park could not be built at Riverside unless the city dedicated an equal amount of open space somewhere else.

Then, six years later, Brown suggested the city's creation of the downtown Waterfront Park would fulfill this requirement and allow plans for the Children's Museum to go forward at Riverside Park. They never did.

The grandest battle of all for the future of Riverside Park occurred in 1915, when 500 city residents gathered in the basement of the county courthouse to decide whether to sell the strip of the park's waterfront to the state for the creation of a steamship dock.

The Day reported that it was such a raucous meeting, with cheers and hissing, that it was difficult at times to follow what was being said.

"In point of attendance, enthusiasm, and exchange of bitter personalities, (the meeting) has never been surpassed in New London," the newspaper breathlessly reported.

It was The Day's publisher, Theodore Bodenwein, who figured out that the only way to get an accurate vote on the measure out of all the mayhem would be for people on opposing sides to go to different ends of the room.

The ayes took it and the sale was approved. But the steamships never came.

Then Mayor Mahan scolded the group in the courthouse basement, urging that the sale be approved: "What's the matter with the city, possessing all its natural advantages but remaining at a standstill."

Some things in New London, and some speeches, never change.

I'd hate to see New London sell to the Coast Guard now, if for no other reason than it will deny future generations of New Londoners the ability to fight over the fate of Riverside Park.

This is the opinion of David Collins.