Name TASSS athletic field after a sports figure
On this the 50th anniversary reunion of the opening of Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School, it may be again time to address the naming of the city sports complex at the school.
It was built with taxpayers’ money and it should be up to the city to put an official name on the complex. This also goes for the two turf fields at Fleming College and the baseball diamond at Trent University.
Leaving the naming of facilities, especially those that are for athletics, to politicians is unwise. Toronto city council just went through an extremely divisive debate and vote on whether to name the Centennial Park Stadium in Etobicoke after the late mayor, Rob Ford. The council voted down the proposal.
Here in Peterborough we have a checkered track record of honouring past sports greats. In 2013, the city renamed the city’s main softball diamond the George (Red) Sullivan East City Bowl. It was a well-deserved honour for the hockey and softball star that brought fame and recognition to the city. Unfortunately, when politicians and bureaucrats get involved in such endeavours they tend to cover as many bases (pun intended) as possible. It should simply be called the Red Sullivan Bowl. Anybody that knows a softball from a baseball knows it is in East City.
In the next decade or so the city might get around to starting construction of the twin pad ice facility at Trent University. Their dawdling has stretched the beginning of construction over five years. But then again we had to finish that new library before we could address the lack of facilities for the city’s many hockey and lacrosse players.
The city named the Evinrude Centre and the Kinsmen Civic Centre for financial considerations. That can lead from some immediate financial gain to later embarrassment. For example, to continue to name a complex for a product of a company, the Outboard Marine, that abandoned the city, regardless if they donated the land, is problematic.
Also, when cities enter into selling the naming rights to sports facilities communities are often stuck with venues like the PPG Paint Arena (Pittsburgh Penguins home), the Smoothie King Centre (home of the NBA New Orleans Pelicans) or the KFC Yum Centre (Louisville basketball home).
We have a long list of athletes, builders and volunteers who have made this city famous with their efforts in the athletic field. A walk around the halls of the Peterborough Memorial Centre looking at the plaques of those inducted into the Peterborough and District Sports Hall of Fame would give a sample of possible candidates. Just last week we had two sports figures, Bob Allan and Bob Gainey, inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.
Sorting through the many candidates for naming rights for the four existing facilities and the upcoming one should begin now. Council should appoint a committee, sans politicians and bureaucrats, to come up with a list of possible names for at least these four facilities. We have just seen how divisive a bunch of politicians can be when they decide to rename a stadium in in Toronto. And we certainly do not want the city bureaucrats elongating the eventual name with their political correctness. Once a set of names have been decided upon, then the residents of the city should have some input into the final choices.
This city has continually dragged its feet in maintaining and building new athletic facilities for the citizens. And furthermore, they have been negligent in naming the facilities they do build. Other communities are light years ahead of us in recognizing local citizenry by naming facilities after them.