What’s in a name? Council tries to figure out what to call BullStreet public park
Though it’s not technically open yet, the 20-acre public park at the under-development BullStreet District is set to be a jewel of the multi-use property, a sort of natural oasis amid the apartments and businesses and stadiums and townhouses that are, and will be, part of the property.
But it has to have a name.
Columbia City Council is working on that part. Council’s administrative policy committee — consisting of councilmen Ed McDowell, Sam Davis and Howard Duvall — met Thursday to formally begin the process of choosing a moniker for the park at BullStreet. The full council would ultimately have to approve the name.
The park is on the northeast portion of the expansive BullStreet property, not far from the Merrill Gardens senior living facility and Segra Park baseball stadium. BullStreet master developer Hughes Development built the park and donated the land back to the city, which took control of the park in August.
The park is not officially open yet, Assistant City Manager Henry Simons said, but he noted some people have already been walking on it and using the greenspace there. It features a walking path, a dog park, rolling green lawns, a pond and stream, and a pair of shelters, with future plans for a playground and a sand volleyball court, among other amenities. Simons is hopeful the park can have a grand opening in the first quarter of 2021.
One hurdle to clear before then is the naming of the 20-acre expanse.
During Thursday’s committee meeting, Duvall suggested the city could consider naming the park after an African American citizen who might have been integral to the BullStreet site, which for years housed the former State Mental Hospital.
“That would tie it into Bull Street’s original mission for 100-something years,” Duvall said. “I think that would be good.”
McDowell and Davis agreed, and the committee said it would reach out to Bobby Donaldson, an associate professor of history at the University of South Carolina and leader of the school’s Center for Civil Rights History and Research, along with Historic Columbia Executive Director Robin Waites for input on historical members of the community who could have particularly strong ties to the site.
The committee hopes to get input from Donaldson and Waites at a meeting early in 2021.
There is recent history with notable Black citizens being honored with namings at BullStreet. Earlier this year, Mayor Steve Benjamin announced a street in the district would be named after the late Dr. Matilda Evans, who operated Columbia’s first free clinic for African American children.
The committee also noted it could consider seeking input from the public — a naming contest, of sorts — in choosing a moniker for the BullStreet park.
The creation of a park is just one of a number of aspects that have come together recently at the long-in-development BullStreet site, a massive project for which the city has pledged nearly $100 million in public funding.
Merrill Gardens and an REI outdoor store opened there in August. The Columbia Fireflies baseball team nabbed a new Major League parent club in the Kansas City Royals. City Council approved a financing plan for the construction of two parking garages on the site. Construction on the five-story, multi-use WestLawn building is upcoming. And, on Thursday, developers announced the receipt of a $39 million federal loan and tax credits to go toward converting the historic Babcock Building — which was ravaged by fire in September — into 208 apartments.
