It appears that the lengthy struggle over Strawberry Plant Park (aka Cannery Cove Park) is subsiding with the six-week construction period of the shoreline part of the project beginning Monday. Friends of Cannery Cove are waving a white flag (see page A9), though it’s possible that some scars produced by the often heated debate over the city’s process and ultimate plan for the small waterfront park will never completely heal.

The city is reluctant to admit any wrongdoing involving its process, which really opened up to the public only after the Friends and its primary antagonist, Jerry Elfendahl, made too much noise to ignore. It appears that the city was determined from the beginning to restore the property’s Eagle Harbor waterfront with Wyckoff Superfund settlement funds at the cost of providing a more user-friendly, water-accessible public park. No wonder sides were taken on this one. It also gained the property through a dubious swap of land that had been gifted to the city by the late John Nelson more than 60 years ago.

On an island where easy public access is woefully lacking, the restoration project will provide a shoreline with limitations. Pressure led to at least some ingress and a nonmotorized boat launching site, though again, not one that is friendly. Wildlife unquestionably received more attention in the planning process than local humans, who tend not to like being overlooked.

The upland section the parks district will eventually create may soften the blow over time for those living in a core area that continues to grow steadily. But it shouldn’t be all that surprising that some islanders would get angry about the use of land that was initially projected to be a more active public space.

There’s no question that our shorelines need to be treasured and renovated when possible, but this project has always seemed to be more about a city planner’s dream than a whole community’s wish. There is hope that with the recent changes in the way the city does business the park’s flawed process will serve as a another lesson about the need for real compromise.