The city planner stated the new park resulted from months of research and planning. The residents were excited, indicating they were unsure who was more thrilled, themselves or their children.
Reported speech converts the present tense "is" to the past tense "was," and direct quotes become statements.
The residents' excitement is reworded to reflect their feelings without quotes, preserving the original meaning.
This adjustment ensures dialogue is smoothly conveyed with correct tense and pronoun modifications.