A couple small Frankford parks could receive new names, and some residents who have been fixing up and maintaining the neighborhood green spaces have chosen to honor local good guys.
Frankford Parks Group members on Oct. 28 voted unanimously to rename Wilmot Park at Meadow and Mulberry for jazz great Butch Ballard and to rename Hedge Street Park at Hedge and Plum streets for William Lampkin, a mentor for many neighborhood youths who was a lifeguard at Hedge Street when it had a pool.
Group members, helped sometimes by volunteers from within and outside the neighborhood, have worked on restoring and improving both parks for several years. Those volunteers provided the manpower for cleaning, painting, weeding, mowing and planting at the parks. Councilwoman Maria Quinones Sanchez (D-7th dist.) arranged for city dollars to fund the needed gear, including playground equipment at both locations.
Changing the names, however, isn’t as easy as hanging up some new signs.
“It’s a legislative process,” said Rafael Alvarez, a Sanchez aide, adding that it’s not necessarily a long one. Following all the regulations and making sure all is correctly done might take a month, he said.
First, Alvarez said, parks can’t be named for living persons. Then, people have to hold a public meeting to discuss the new names and suggest them to the councilwoman. That was done Oct. 28.
Now, the councilwoman’s staff must draw up legislation to rename the two city properties. That must be submitted to the full City Council, and then it must be referred to the Parks and Recreation Committee. That panel must allow for testimony on the ordinance, and then its members must vote the measure out of committee with a recommendation to the full council, which then votes on it.
None of that should be a problem, Alvarez said. ••
