The Groton Town Council has been entertaining proposals of what to do with the old S.B. Butler School property. One proposal is to turn it into a large hotel/B&B. Sorry, but we don’t need people playing cornhole at 3 a.m. in the morning and partying it up!

It seems to me that a good use of the property would be for green space and recreational use. For many years, Mystic has lacked a free recreational park that includes multi-functional areas for children, teens and adults. Noank has a park with courts and a playground. The Town of Groton has Sutton Park and Poquonnock Plains Park, which serve that local community. The City of Groton has Washington Park, Eastern Point Beach and Fort Griswold. Groton Long Point and Mumford Cove have parks.

As limited as it was, S.B. Butler was our recreational/meeting area. Mystic needs a multi-use recreational park/meeting area that will serve all ages. Can you imagine basketball and pickle-ball courts, a child's playground, baseball field as well as green space and parking? It would not just benefit the immediate neighborhood but would benefit Mystic as a whole! March 5 is the next Groton Town Council meeting; please attend or write a letter soon to support recreational use of this property.

Lynn (Watrous) O’Brien

Mystic