Recreation Commission to Discuss Wildwood Park vs Havenville Park Name Debate

The is meeting tonight at 7 p.m. in the Recreation Office in the Human Services Building at 61 Center St.

Included on the meeting agenda is a proposal to change the name of a park the town is going to build on the location of the former Wildwood School. The current name of the park "Wildwood Park," after the school. Recently, however, there was a  proposal, forwarded by resident Mary LoPreste, to have the park named "Havenville," a reference to the traditional name of the neighborhood of Bedford Street and Francis Wyman road, close to where the park will be located.

Havenville was named for the Haven family, which owned a lot of land in the area for many years during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and build a kind of single-family community, according to Co-Chair of the Burlington Historical Commission Mike Treduea. Havenville is still recognized on many maps, and will come up on a Google Map search.

The debate is scheduled to be taken up by the commission tonight, so if you prefer one name over the other, tonight would be a good time to let your voice be heard.

Click for a discussion with LoPreste and why she believes Havenville is a more appropriate name. Click for background on the proposed park project.

Correction note: In the original version of the story it was stated that the commission would be discussing a proposal to name the park Wildwood. That name has already been accepted and the only proposal is to change it.