Title
Resolution No. 18-12, Renaming Carnegie Library Park to Library Park
Body
RECOMMENDED ACTION (Motion):
Staff recommends the City Commission consider adoption of Resolution No. 18-12, renaming Carnegie Library Park to Library Park.
BACKGROUND:
Dr. John McLoughlin dedicated the block on which the Oregon City Public Library and Carnegie Library Park are located when he dedicated the land to the City in 1850. For many years, it was known as Library Park. Then, in the fall of 2005, Doug Neeley wrote a request to have the area named Carnegie Plaza. The Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee (PRAC) convened a naming committee and the end result was the unanimous recommendation from PRAC that the property be renamed to Carnegie Library Park. The City Commission agreed and voted in favor of the name change by resolution in January 2006.
In the fall of 2016, the Oregon City Public Library completed construction of their new library on the property which incorporated the historic Carnegie building into the new larger Oregon City Public Library facility. Discussion occurred at PRAC meetings in March and April 2017 to review the name of the park to determine if the name accurately reflects the current and future use of the park. Per City policy for naming or changing names of parks, an ad-hoc naming committee was created at the April 2017 PRAC Meeting. The committee included the Parks and Recreation Director, two members of PRAC and the staff liaison to the Citizen Involvement Committee (CIC). Naming committee members included Community Services Director Phil Lewis, PRAC member Shawn Dachtler, PRAC member Doug Neeley, and Senior Planner/CIC Staff Liaison Christina Robertson-Gardiner.
The naming committee met on June 8, 2017. The committee discussed the history of the park, the historical contributions and the ongoing permanent use of the park. At the conclusion of the meeting, it was determined to recommend adjusting the name of the park to ‘Carnegie Park’. The adjustment of the name continues to reflect the contributions of Andrew Carnegie to the Oregon City community through his donation of funds for the construction of the original Carnegie Library on the property. The committee recommendation was presented at the June 22, 2017 PRAC meeting for discussion. After discussion, PRAC voted unanimously to recommend to City Commission a name adjustment from ‘Carnegie Library Park’ to ‘Carnegie Park’. Community Services Director Phil Lewis committed to make presentations at the upcoming Citizen Involvement Committee and McLoughlin Neighborhood Association meetings which occurred in July and August 2017 before moving the recommendation forward to City Commission.
Leading up to and during the October 26, 2018 PRAC meeting additional feedback was requested from the public. After considering the additional public comment, a motion was passed to rescind the previous recommendation. At the December 7, 2018 PRAC meeting a new recommendation was submitted by motion to change the name of the park from “Carnegie Library Park” to “Library Park”. Doug Neeley stated during the December 7, 2017 PRAC meeting, “the reason that the name was changed to Carnegie Library Park was that the library had, in fact, moved and at that time it was not anticipated that the site would operate as a library any more. We wanted to make sure that Carnegie was recognized in that park… the library came back and that issue is no longer there.” The motion passed unanimously to make a formal recommendation to City Commission.
Public meetings were held on this topic on the following dates:
• Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee - March 23, 2017
• Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee - April 27, 2017
• Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee - June 22, 2017
• McLoughlin Neighborhood Association Meeting - July 6, 2017
• Citizen Involvement Committee - August 7, 2017
• Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee - October 26, 2017
• Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee - December 7, 2017