Council will be tasked with agreeing on more inspired names for a trio of green spaces in View Royal in the coming weeks.
Having done some research on the history of the areas and their pioneer residents, staff put forward some options for renaming Town-owned parks on Stancil Lane, at a former highway rest stop on the edge of Portage Inlet, and on land acquired as part of the Eagle Creek Village development.
Stancil Park is the suggestion for the tiny piece of green space on the street of the same name, near an offshoot private road called Tawny Place. Descendants of early View Royal area residents Ernest and Muriel Stancil had proposed the name prior to the creation of the Town’s naming policy.
Next to the Eagle Creek Village shopping centre is a forested area that faces Victoria General Hospital.
Staff noted the Eagle Creek name has no geographical relation to the area, adding that Hospital Creek actually runs through the property. Other leading options for the name were Elliott Park, for the woman who donated land nearby for St. Columba Church; and Pilgrim Park, for Myrtle Pilgrim, a founding member of the Craigflower Women’s Institute.
The recommended option was to call it Hourigan Park, for the family that owned the property for many years prior to its purchase by Eagle Creek developer Omicron Development Inc.
As for the strip of land along the Trans-Canada Highway that once was home to a rest stop, staff proposed the geographically correct name, Portage Inlet Connector Park. Long-term plans being considered for the park, which is accessed from St. Giles Street off Helmcken Road, include facilities for canoe or kayak launching.
Council may opt for other potential names for this initial group of parks – other spaces will be brought forward later in 2017 – but a decision is expected to be made by council early in the new year.