Waterfront Park Chosen As Name For New King Street Park

ALEXANDRIA, VA—Alexandria City Council voted on Saturday, Dec. 15 to name the new park at the foot of King Street "Waterfront Park" and combine it with the adjacent Waterfront Park.

The vote came after the public revealed a different name preference, Col. John Fitzgerald. The council opted for the name Waterfront Park after a researcher with Slavery Inventory Database, LLC sent a report to City Council documenting Fitzgerald's slaveowning history.

"Without a doubt this was a distinguished man. But what was a factor that I considered very heavily was the fact that he owned a lot of slaves," Councilwoman Del Pepper, who was on the Naming Committee, said at the council meeting. "In fact, he...had one of the largest slaveholdings in this city's history."

Irish American groups had pushed for the park to be named after Fitzgerald, an Irish immigrant, Alexandria mayor, American Revolution war leader, and founder of the first Catholic church in Virginia. The name Fitzgerald Square had been a placeholder name when the city adopted the Waterfront Plan in 2012, but the park never went through a formal naming process.

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The council voted on the name after receiving a recommendation from the Naming Committee. Members of the public could suggest their name preferences and whether they wanted the park to be joined with the adjacent Waterfront Park in a survey open from Oct. 9-Nov. 16. According to the city, variations of Fitzgerald received 47 percent of votes and Waterfront received 10 percent.

The interim park is now slated to open in early 2019 at the site of the former Old Dominion Boat Club building and parking lot next to the existing Waterfront Park. The interim park will have an open plaza, waterfront promenade, shade structures, and a modular space that can be converted for seasonal uses. Years later, the park will close to add additional amenities and flood mitigation infrastructure for the permanent park.

Image via City of Alexandria