New London - Riverside Park, 18 acres along the Thames River abutting the Coast Guard Academy, is many things to many people.

Older residents remember splashing in the Thames River in the summer and sledding down hills in the winter. Churches held picnics and teenagers played basketball.

Some have said they would have rendezvous with cadets there at night. And one mayoral candidate said his wife's parents used to go there when they were dating.

But in recent years the park hasn't looked much like the scenes from early 20th century postcards: a pastoral place, dabbed in pastels, with a public fountain and long-skirted women standing on the sloping terrain.

The city neglected it, let it grow wild and in the early part of the century used a portion of it as a dump. For a time the secluded park off Crystal Avenue was frequented by prostitutes and drug users. It was a popular place to stop by after work and have a beer with friends.

Now, an offer by the Coast Guard to buy about half the park for $2.9 million has brought renewed interest in the only municipally owned open space in the northern end of the city.

Voters will decide Tuesday if the city should keep the park or sell about 9 acres so the Coast Guard Academy can expand its 103-acre campus.

The academy, which has 1,065 cadets and 618 military, civilian and faculty members, has said it has outgrown its space and the only place for it to go is into Riverside Park.

The Thames River and Route 32 cut off the east and west sides of campus and in the north, 8 acres outside the campus boundaries contain the academy's day care center and has been designated for a new firing range.

Satellite campuses are not practical, according to David M. Santos, the academy's communications director, because of the cadets' schedules.

"Any military academy is going to seek to expand the land contiguous to its campus,'' he said.

The Coast Guard wants to eventually build a leadership development center and a national shipboard simulator center on the site. The shipboard simulator would replace the 1980s technology located in the basement of one of the academy buildings.

"We need to be able to train on newer, state-of-the-art equipment,'' Santos said. The center would be used by both cadets and active duty service men and women from across the country, he said.

For and against

Four of the six candidates for mayor oppose the sale, although whoever is elected will be bound by Tuesday's vote.

City councilors Rob Pero, a Republican, and Democrat Michael Buscetto III, a write-in candidate, favor selling and using some of sale money to improve the remaining 9 acres, which include the waterfront, a section along Adelaide Street and a strip of land between the soon-to-be-reopened Winthrop School.

The academy is a good neighbor, they argue. Last year, cadets put in more than 18,000 hours of community service in the region, including 5,600 hours in New London schools in the spring.

The rest of the mayoral hopefuls think the park is an asset, part of the city's legacy, and should remain open public space. And the advocates have a voice.

Kathleen Mitchell, a sharp critic of the city during the eminent domain struggle at Fort Trumbull, immediately organized residents and held cleanups and rallies at the park. Mitchell says the city has neglected the poorer residents who live in the north end of New London. They need a place to call their own, she has said.

The City Council responded by allocating money in the spring to trim trees, replace picnic tables and install grills for cookouts.

New London Landmarks, the nonprofit group that emerged some 30 years ago to stave off demolition of the historic Henry Hobson Richardson Union Station, is also in favor of keeping the entire park and improving the east side of New London, which includes the business district called Hodges Square.

The park could be an important resource in the future, Landmarks Executive Director Sandra Chalk has said.

"As urban living becomes more popular the amenities of city life will include the importance of nearby, convenient open space,'' she said. "Riverside Park, for all its problems today, is a resource for the future. It should be held in trust for the children of tomorrow who will need access to its rolling hills, its water views and even a restoration of the beach."

The Democratic Town Committee voted to oppose the sale. The Republican Town Committee opted to take a neutral stand and let voters decide.

Gift to the city

The city first bought 18 acres off Crystal Avenue in 1893 from the Post Hill Improvement Co. In 1908, Frank Bradegee and Sebastian D. Lawrence, both prominent New London residents, purchased another 11 acres called Lewis Woods Grove, and donated the land to the city to expand the park.

Even as far back as 1915, the park appeared to be a forgotten asset. The superintendent of parks at the time, in a report to the Board of Park Commissioners, advocated "liberal expenditure of money'' to build retaining walls and rebuild a fish pond. He recommended that the city stop using a portion of it as a dump, trim the older trees and develop a plan for restoration.

At the time, the park had 37 bathhouses with broken locks, doorknobs and hinges. The bathrooms needed rebuilding.

In September 2010, the council voted 4-3 to sell the academy 9 acres of the park. That decision was petitioned to a referendum.

While "Say No" signs have sprouted up all over the city, George Sprecace, a former city councilor whose son is running for a third term on the council, has come out in favor of the sale.

"Share,'' he has said. "New London and the Coast Guard have been an integrated team for nearly two centuries. This action will guarantee the reintegration of Hodges Square neighborhood with the rest of New London."

k.edgecomb@theday.com

Ballot question

"Shall the City of New London sell a portion of Riverside Park to the Federal Government?"

O Yes

O No