Citizens near unanimous on park names

By Meghan Erkkinen

Residents were nearly unanimous in their feedback on renaming some of Fife’s park sites.

Last month, more than 70 suggestions were submitted for three different sites within the city – the Brookville Gardens site off Valley Avenue, Five-Acre Park in the Radiance development and the Torre property off Frank Albert Road.

The city received a sig-nificant response for both the Brookville Gardens site and for the Torre property, and

almost all had the same sug-gestions.

About 40 suggestions were submitted for the Brookville Gardens site, and those suggestions were almost unanimous in their desire to retain the same name for the park.

Brookville Gardens has been the name for the site for many decades. The site was previously owned by the

Yotsuuye family, which farmed on the property for many years and employed many Fife residents.

Citizens reminded the park board of the historical significance of the parcel and urged them to recommend retaining the name.

“I think people really liked the sound of it,” said Park Board Chair Melanie Reimer.

The approximately 30 suggestions for the Torre property were also nearly unanimous. Residents overwhelmingly voted to name the property Frank Albert Memorial Park,

after one of the city’s first dairy farmers.

“The family of Frank Albert really wanted to memorialize him and what he did for the

community,” Reimer said. “They had a great argument and they made a lot of sense.”

The Park Board voted to pass along the residents’ choices to the city council, which is scheduled to review and vote on the suggestions at its March 25 meeting.

“We agreed that the two names that were unanimously sent in we would change to,” Reimer said. “I think these are two great names.”

Only a few suggestions were submitted for the Five-Acre Park site. The Park Board plans to reach out to the

Radiance community, through the homeowner’s

association and other means.

“I’d just love to see a lot more participation in the community,” Reimer said. “It just really helps with these kind of issues in the community to get a lot of support.”

Fife Park Board suggestions for new names of two of the city’s parks: 

Brookville Gardens Park (formerly Brookville Gardens): Brookville Gardens was previously owned by the Yotsuuye family, who farmed the land and employed many Fife residents. Citizens urged the park board to recommend keeping the name because of the historical significance of the parcel and the image its name evoked.

Frank Albert Memorial Park (formerly Torre property): After emigrating from Switzerland in 1892, Frank Albert became one of the first dairy farmers in Fife, and lived along the road now named for him. He began by leasing property from a Native American, but by 1899 he purchased his own farm and built a home and barns. Many of his descendants still live in the city.

Five-Acre Park: The Park Board decided not to make a recommendation for this site, which is in the Radiance development, due to a small number of suggestions for new names. The board will seek more suggestions from area residents, through the Radiance homeowners’ association and other means.

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