Nothing wrong with naming park shelters
Members of the Sedalia Park Board set a precedent when they said they did not want to set a precedent for naming shelters or smaller facilities. Confused? So are we, to an extent.
As reported by the Democrat’s Matthew Steingraber, during the board’s Nov. 3 meeting, board members rejected a request to name a shelter house in Centennial Park for a former mayor who was in a group that helped raise money to acquire the property. This was the second time the board had considered the request; it was tabled in August after members requested more information on the application.
All six board members in attendance at the Nov. 3 meeting voted against the proposal. Board member Jo Lynn Turley said she had “some concerns about naming all the little pieces of the park,” while fellow member Jerry Case supported his stance by noting that guidelines call for memorial namings to be difficult to achieve to avoid having the board be overwhelmed with requests.
What is wrong with naming shelter houses for people or groups who have made significant contributions to the community and who have performed in exemplary ways? It certainly would be more meaningful to have the “Virginia Flower Shelter” at Centennial Park than the generic Shelter No. 1.
Case is correct in stating that the standards for namings should be high; Turley also makes a solid point in her aversion to naming “all the little pieces of the park” after someone. If the board doesn’t want to do memorial namings for water fountains or collections of shrubbery, it doesn’t have to. But shelter houses are not small things — they are integral structures that get consistent use.
One of the reasons given for denying the request was the shopworn “we’ve never done that before.” Well, we think it is time for a change.
We would like to see the board establish some definitive criteria for memorial namings, then allow such honors on park shelter houses. It is a good way to recognize community builders and lend some more character to city parks.
