COEUR d’ALENE — Everyone was so eager to officially open McEuen Park, the ribbon was cut twice.

It was also because of a premature snip of the giant scissors, but that just reflected the excitement that surrounded the ribbon cutting ceremony Saturday morning at the Grand Staircase.

Hundreds gathered to hear community leaders and McEuen organizers speak during the dedication. They watched as former mayor Sandi Bloem and Mayor Steve Widmyer combined their mayoral powers to cut the ribbon and officially begin the life of a brand new McEuen.

“Oh happy day,” Bloem said. “Today, and all through this process to get to this point today, we listened to thousands and thousands of voices. I think almost everyone in the community had an opinion on the park and that’s good.”

She said everyone should take a moment and listen to what the park might say if it could speak.

“I believe first of all, it would say ‘thank you’ to each and every one of you for making this happen. I believe the park would say, ‘I have many new friends of all ages. I have met many families because there is something for everyone to do here.’”

Small children, families, older couples, wandering individuals intrigued by the live music and even a PBS production crew from New York City visited the park to connect, explore and enjoy a nice day in the sunshine. A free lunch of hot dogs and potato salad was served in the Grand Pavilion where park visitors could sit at the picnic tables and relish in the sense of community created by the summer barbecue atmosphere.

Katie Kosanke of Post Falls, urban forestry coordinator for the City of Coeur d’Alene, helped with the cooking and serving.

“We planned on about 500 people, we were thinking, and we ran out so quickly we went out and picked up another 500 (hot dogs),” she said. She estimated that more than 1,000 people came through the pavilion and more than 200 pounds of potato salad were served.

“What is so great about McEuen Park is you look out over here and you see all the children and all the families,” said Widmyer, a Coeur d’Alene resident for more than 50 years. “That’s a big deal in this park, and it’s a lot of what we focused on. So that’s really a great thing, all the children and the families.”

Tim and Andrea Garvin of Coeur d’Alene brought their daughter Gwendolyn, 4, and son Declan, 2, to McEuen to celebrate the opening day.

“It’s really exciting,” Tim said. “I like the playgrounds and stuff for the kids. That’s what they seem to enjoy most.”

“It’s busy. Lots of kids,” Andrea said. “I can tell that they’re having a lot of fun.”

And much fun was had as Coeur d’Alene’s little ones splish-splashed in the splash pad, which spouted and sprayed water for the first time. It was difficult to tell who was having more fun, the kids or the parents watching.

“We all realized that this park was vastly underutilized,” Widmyer said. “It took some vision and it took some foresight to be able to put this together, and it’s going to be a well-used park, so we’re really excited about it.”