No issue in this coming local election has generated more passionate emotions than the proposed sale of a portion of Riverside Park to the adjacent U.S. Coast Guard Academy. If Tuesday's vote is based on emotion, we suspect voters will reject the $2.9 million sale.

But we appeal to reason and urge New Londoners to vote yes.

This proposed sale is not a repeat of the eminent domain episode that took place at the Fort Trumbull peninsula, as much as opponents of the Riverside sale try to paint it as such. In that instance the city sought to obtain the property and homes of citizens, some who did not want to sell, with the intent of undertaking a redevelopment project that could benefit all of New London. Serious mistakes were made. A lengthy court fight divided the community and squandered the city's opportunity to act during a period of economic growth. Development authorities and city officials could have avoided much of that by handling matters more deftly, diplomatically and compassionately.

Yet the cry that "they are doing it again" with Riverside is a hollow one. This is no seizure of personal property. This is the proposed sale of land collectively owned by the citizens of New London. Those citizens will make the decision at the ballot box. Nothing could be more fair or democratic.

City officials and representatives of the academy negotiated the price for the sale of the property, roughly half the 18-acre park. That price, $2.9 million, was the result of independent appraisals conducted by both parties and $1 million higher than the assessed value.

Those are the facts - purchase, not seizure; public, not personal property; a referendum, not a dictate. But if you want to arouse passions in New London you scream Fort Trumbull and eminent domain.

We don't accept the premise that selling some park land will leave the community with an unusable park. With up to $2.9 million to spend - and we would urge the city to invest sale money in beautifying the park - the city could develop a wonderful park scaled to its urban setting. Sale opponents growl about the rolling topography of the land that would remain, but $2.9 million can pay for a lot of contouring to open up vistas and provide picnicking, playscapes and passive recreational opportunities.

The city is not selling any park property immediately adjacent to the water. With money to invest, access to the Thames River could improve with the restoration of a pedestrian bridge across the railroad tracks. Without the sale revenues, this cash-strapped city will find it difficult to invest adequately in the long-underutilized park.

Voters should also consider whom they would be selling to - the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, an institution that has remained a source of New London pride for a century now. The academy needs this land to further its noble mission to train the future officers who will protect the nation's ports and coastlines, perform rescue missions and respond to disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

On the added land the academy plans to construct the National Shipboard Simulator Center that would allow cadets and other Coast Guard personnel to safely train for their missions. This will create construction jobs in the short term, while the local economy will long benefit by the personnel drawn to the area by the simulator center. In time, the property-starved academy expects to use the land for further expansion.

Yes, there will be a security fence, but the academy will not be a neighbor estranged from the community. It never has been. Many of its sporting, musical and social events are open to the public. Its cadets contribute more than 18,000 hours of local community service annually, much of it mentoring in our local schools.

Rear Adm. Sandra L. Stosz said the academy plans to work with the Winthrop elementary science and technology magnet school, under construction nearby, to bring its students onto campus, exposing them to one of the leading engineering schools in the nation.

The U.S. Coast Guard also expects to locate its national museum in New London. This newspaper has endorsed a proposal to renovate and expand Union Station in the heart of the downtown for the museum. While the two issues are not directly related, it would certainly be a show of good faith for voters to help the academy meet its needs through this sale.

New London residents should vote yes on this ballot question Tuesday.