Re: "We can't just say no to changes," Other Opinions, Sept. 27.

Were there two different public meetings on City Park Tuesday night? The one I attended had the public speaking out in favor of change, in the form of the 2005 master plan. That plan proposes considerable change. However, the new development proposals trash that master plan.

I heard no one speak against bringing back golf. I did hear opposition to the proposed layout and allotment of space.

When it comes to big changes, we're great at saying "no" here in New Orleans.

We're not so good at saying "yes" or even "maybe." We don't always open our collective minds to the possibility that different could actually be acceptable, if not better.

Look around. It shows.

An attentive crowd of more than 200 people applauded warmly Tuesday night after each of three presentations on proposals to develop a children's museum, a television studio and a state-of-the-art golf complex on the grounds of New Orleans' City Park.

But when it came time for those in attendance to comment on the proposals, words of support were few and far between.

"There's no shortage of empty real estate out there," said David Muth, referring to the vast swaths of property in the city left vacant by Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters. "We don't need to turn this park into a highly developed, money-making operation."

Proponents of separate proposals to bring a new and expanded Louisiana Children's Museum and a studio housing Louisiana Public Broadcasting production facilities to New Orleans' City Park will go public today with their first detailed descriptions of the ambitious plans.

Also on the City Park Improvement Association agenda is an update by the Fore!Kids Foundation, which wants to replace the park's storm-battered golf courses with a state-of-the-art complex suitable to host PGA Tour events.

The three projects -- all works in progress lacking definitive price tags -- could become part of a restoration blueprint for the park, revising a master plan adopted before Hurricane Katrina inflicted more than $40 million in damage to the city's premier green space.