Wilson Park is downtown’s “forgotten park.”

It’s been around since 1939 behind the post office at the corner of Sycamore Avenue and Center Street.

The “new” Manteca post office that was dedicated in March 25 of that year was made possible by the tireless effort of former postmaster Joseph Wilson to convince the U.S. Postal Service to build it.

He even handled the paperwork for the federal land purchase. When Wilson died five months after the dedication, community leaders decided to turn a patch of land to the west of the post office into a memorial park named in his honor.

It’s a low key park with 14 trees including one planted at a central plaza where sidewalks meet.

There was a water fountain, but that is history.

Besides a bench facing the street along the Center Street sidewalk next to the dedication monument, there’s endless shade.

Wilson Park might just have one of the  tallest — if not the tallest tree — in Manteca’s city parks.

The park is rarely used.

It is converted into beer gardens for the Pumpkin Fair in October and the  Watermelon Festival in June.

Why any of this matters is the fact city leaders are in the process of trying to repurpose Library Park.

One of the issues they hope it addresses is eliminating the fairly intense attention Library Park needs from homeless that leave debris and trash behind.

Since the city has been enforcing park hours for all residents, housed and unhoused, those issues at Library Park have been drastically reduced.

The same is true for Wilson Park.

The city, in making that happen, removed concrete picnic tables and connected benches from Wilson Park.

In doing so, they reduced reasons for the homeless to use the small park in the day.

But they also eliminated what was a popular sack lunch site for years for some in the downtown area.

Granted, that ended when homeless started to gather.

That said, no one at city hall seems much concerned about Wilson Park being underused.

Nor or they trying to come up with ways for more people to use it so it doesn’t become a de facto “homeless park.”

The homeless tend not to gather where there is activity.

Last year, Councilman Dave Breitenbucher floated the idea of turning it into Manteca’s second dog park.

Some nearby residents, concerned about the repurposing of Library Park may make it less conducive to take their young children there to use playground equipment, have suggested the city add playground equipment to Wilson Park.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com