Title
Review and Recommend List of Park Names
Body
To: Honorable Chair and Members of the Recreation and Park Commission
From: Amy Wooldridge, Recreation and Parks Director
Re: Review and Recommend List of Park Names
BACKGROUND
On May 10, 2018, the Commission discussed the City Naming Policy as it relates to naming new parks or re-naming existing parks.
On June 14, 2018, the Commission decided to do an outreach campaign, on social media and other platforms, to generate a list of potential park names. From there, the Commission would discuss the names offered by the community and recommend a specific set of names. This list could then be utilized anytime there is a new park requiring a name or a decision to rename a park. It is a similar process that is utilized for street names with a list of available street names confirmed by the Historical Advisory Board.
On September 13, 2018, the Commission discussed ideas for a marketing campaign to develop a list of potential park names and asked staff to initiate a survey through social media.
The City Naming Policy lists specific criteria available for selecting a name for a City property, facility or Street. These include:
• A name that reflects the Iocation of the facility by geographic area;
• A name that reflects the history of a facility such as the family name of the builder developer or person who may have donated the land when the individual has been deceased a minimum of three years;
• A name that recognizes a significant contributor to the advancement of the City such as a former Mayor Councilmember Board or Commission Member officers or employees of the City or member of the community when the individual has been deceased a minimum of three years;
• A name that recognizes the donor of a significant gift of land or funds for a City facility;
• A name that is listed on the List of Street and Facility Names of the City of Alameda.
• Only one name shall be used for each property or facility and all its various components.
At the June meeting, the Commission also added Parks and Recreation related categories in addition to the Street Names categories. The total list of categories for parks includes:
§ Coaches & athletes
§ Alameda Service groups
§ Natural features and animals
§ Historical features (such as from Neptune Beach roller coaster, Alameda Beltline, etc.)
§ Families/businesses
§ Maritime/marine and aquatic features
DISCUSSION
Several new public parks are anticipated to be constructed in Alameda over the several years and the Commission will have the opportunity to recommend a name for these parks. Parks that are confirmed to be built within the next two years include a 4.5 acre park at Alameda Landing Phase 3 on the estuary and a small neighborhood park in Alameda Point Site A. Both are being built by private developers but will be public parks managed and maintained by Alameda Recreation and Parks Department (ARPD). Other potential future parks, also built by developers, may be at Alameda Marina, Del Monte, and Encinal Terminals. These would be privately maintained but open to the public. The City reserves the right to name these parks as well.
Recently, staff launched a social media survey and asked residents to name their favorite current park, identify their preferred name categories (choose one or more), and to provide park name ideas. Responses were received from 86 people and Exhibit 1 lists all of the data collected from that survey.
The Commission may choose as many or few names as it prefers as well as add ideas to the list. This list of park names will then be recommended to City Council for final approval to add to the approved “List of Street and Facility Names.” In the future, when the Commission intends to name a specific park, it can choose from the approved name list and recommend that name to City Council for final approval.
RECOMMENDATION
Review and Recommend List of Park Names
Respectfully submitted,
Amy Wooldridge, Recreation and Parks Director
Exhibits:
1. Park Name Data from Social Media Survey
2. Policy for Naming City Facilities