Hyannis welcomes you?

Photo: A daily scene for young visiting families needing a public restroom in the downtown area…

Hyannis — The Main Street John F. Kennedy Museum is a popular choice for just about any visitor to Hyannis. Too bad the area is infested with drunken derelicts.

Police are called to the restrooms behind the JFK Museum, the ones located between the Town Hall Village Green and Hyannis Public Library, nearly everyday and sometimes more.

The heart of HyTown’s tourism industry is not ideal for young families with small children. The area is riddled with homeless drunks and sex offenders; it’s been that way for a long time; many are sick of it, and something needs to be done.

Three squad cars responded to a report of a male passed-out in one of the handicap stalls this afternoon. This seemingly happens every single day.

Hyannis News arrived just as a young boy was sent in by his dad to go all by himself. It’s a good thing, sort of, that 3 of Barnstable’s finest were already inside scraping the nearly comatose drunk off the floor.

How many small children have walked in all alone on similar scenes in the past? … all by themselves prior to police being there?

Barnstable, this is not good… this definitely is not good. It’s time to wake up.

Barnstable, the “2007 All American City.” A city which prides itself on being a major tourist attraction. A city which claims tourism as one of it’s leading industries…

… you could have fooled me.

An All American City should keep its immediate property surrounding the town administration buildings and tourist attractions clean, friendly, and safe for people of all ages.

Right now that is not the case.

As the official Editor-in-Chief of Hyannis News, I’m using the full authority of my office to temporarily revoke Barnstable’s All American City status until the situation improves.

In other words, HyannisNews.com can no longer consider the area surrounding Barnstable’s Town Hall anything other than a virtual anti-tourist cesspit, an unfriendly and potentially unsafe destination for families with young children.

Sorry. I know it sucks, but how do you think our visitors feel?

The downtown area is an embarrassment to tourist destinations nationwide. The business owners and tourists deserve much better and it’s up to the geniuses inside our town offices to come up with a permanent solution.

Hyannis needs leaders that envision young visitors using public restrooms that are both odor and derelict free.

Is that too much to ask?

8/15/2013

Robert Bastille, HyannisNews.com

[More photos below…]

P.S. The following goes out to all our future tourists young and old, especially those named Sara…. I’m pleading and romancing, “… but why don’t ya stay until tomorrow?” [Press play]