Letter to the editor: Let’s spruce up Portland before trying to promote it

Re: The July 28 article (“Visit Portland seeks guest fee to fund tourism marketing,” Page B1) on charging hotel guests in Portland an added 2 percent that would fund more marketing of what’s available for sights and activities in the city:

With its vast array of breweries, restaurants, museums, shops, the Longfellow House, Victoria Mansion, the observatory, summer tour boats and summer walking, biking, Duck Boat and fire truck tours, Portland has a great deal to offer its visitors, and all of these should be marketed to reap maximum rewards.

However, if tourists enter Portland via Commercial Street, they must be aghast at the weeds, dead birch tree, tall grass and litter that greet them. At the ferry terminal entrance, there is a median that is totally unkempt and looks terrible! A few planters on Congress and Commercial streets are provided by the city, but most of the urns, pots and planters of flowers are placed outside businesses by the owners, at their own expense with the desire to create a welcoming atmosphere.

A vacant restaurant on Commercial Street has plywood covering doors and windows that give off a cold, unwelcoming vibe. There are sidewalks with missing bricks, dangerous for walkers.

Beautification expenditures and maintenance of weeds, grass and sidewalks should be carried out by the city to enhance the attractiveness of downtown and the Old Port. Presently, some areas look gross; visitors do take notice and decide if they will return or not based on appearance. Portland is too nice a city to look so shabby.

Sally T. Connolly
South Portland