Regarding Francis Shedd’s letter concerning the parkway: He is right! That parkway is an asset and it needs to be treated as such. Somewhere along the line, someone forgot some pretty important issues here -–tourists.

Tourist season is coming. Is Niagara Falls ready? For that answer you need to take a drive through the city and with an open mind, look at Niagara Falls through the eyes of a tourist. What will you see? Main Street needs work, vacant buildings need to be torn down--the list goes on and on.

Before you get the checkbook out to destroy the parkway, start to invest in the city. Get business-friendly on Main Street: Tear down those ugly, vacant buildings; fix those pot holes, form a neighborhood watch in your area, the list goes on and on.

Niagara Falls used to be worth travelling to. Return it to that. Don’t tear up roads, fix them. Too many people are moving out of Niagara Falls and being one of them I know I would never move back there.

There’s a lot of work to be done in the city and, Mayor Galie, I believe you’ve got your work cut out. But the parkway needs to stay put. Direct your energy elsewhere.