I was dragged to these shady streets 40 years ago by She, who thought I was wasting my talent by writing for the Los Angeles Times. As I go where she says, we left.

My editors at The Times were confused. “Maine? What will you wear, J.P.? No linen jacket, no sunglasses?”

Not long after that, The Times got sold off, and then again, now owned by a Chinese billionaire. She was right. We packed and fled.

So here we are, and after 40 years, I’ve become accustomed to my adopted sleepy town, where I offer my talent to amuse, and the town is no longer sleepy. In fact, it’s no longer a “town.”

Albion is a town. Oakland is a town, cozy, but no excitement. Now Waterville had changed. It has blossomed into a boom town by the magic of generous friends with artistic and creative talent, like me, except with a lot more money.

I used to hate change, but here I find myself excited by the changes happening to this once little Alfred Hitchcock New England movie set of a town.

I love what they’re doing with the streets, don’t you?

They’re wider and cleaner and without the potholes (they’ll be back), brightly lit and full of new stores and interesting faces.

The place is looking more and more like a “city,” including big city chaos coming with a two-way Main Street — exciting, isn’t it? Look both ways now, and teach your kids what that means.

But hold on: where are the statues? You know, old guys riding horses and waving swords?

All major cities have statues. Rome, Paris and Moscow are filled with statues that say, “Look at me, I’m a city.”

Alma, Arkansas, a spinach capital, has a statue of Popeye for pity’s sake. Popeye? Can’t we do better than that?

Philadelphia has Rocky, a fictional boxer. Really?

A Waterville Parks and Recreation department. employee trims weeds at the base of the Civil War statue in Monument Park in Waterville. Morning Sentinel file

A bronze statue of quarterback Peyton Manning feeds the pigeons in Indianapolis.

Can’t we top that?

Oh, I know we have that “Ticonic” metallic piece we moved to Head of Falls to serve as a tourist draw, and there is the “Citizen Soldier” in the park on Elm Street. It says “Civil War.” We won, move on.

But now that we’ve moved into the 21st century, it’s time to put on evening clothes, top hat and tails and strut like a city. Puttin’ on the Ritz.

Here’s an idea: A big bronze group statue of the 1944 Waterville High basketball team: John “Swisher” Mitchell, John and Norm Jabar, Ted Shiro, and Spanky Canavan. Now we’re talking history.

A large bronze of Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell, a Waterville boy on the steps of City Hall.

And who wouldn’t like to see a group statue of Pacy and Ludy Levine and Howard Miller in bronze on the back deck of the Lockwood Hotel. Too expensive? What isn’t?

I favor a bronze statue of Al Corey placed in front of the Paul J. Schupf Art Center (love that name) holding his saxophone, as crowds pass by on summer evenings. Yeah.

Finally, how about dropping a New Year’s Eve ball from the top of The Lockwood?

Too soon? Move on.

J.P. Devine is a Waterville writer.