A park is planned for the plot of land at the intersection of London Avenue and Ninth Street. City officials are hoping the park will increase connectivity from Memorial Hospital into the Uptown.
(Photo submitted)
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A Marysville park could be getting a new name, even though it has yet to be built.
A proposed park at the intersection of Ninth Street and London Avenue has been referenced as “Bicentennial Park” since it was conceptualized. City Manager Terry Emery said he isn’t tied to the name, but it made sense since it was known the park would be completed during the city’s bicentennial year. The park is expected to be constructed before the city celebrates its bicentennial in August.
Now officials from Memorial Health are asking to change the name of the park. Chip Hubbs, president and chief executive officer of Memorial Health was at Marysville City Council’s work session Monday. He asked the council to consider naming the park “Dana Morey Bicentennial Park.”
Hubbs said that if Memorial Health had a Mt. Rushmore, Morey’s “would be one of the names on it.”
Hubbs explained the hospital has two areas — the Morey Center and the Morey Entrance — named for the man. He said that once the hospital expansion is complete, the Morey Center will be vacated and the Morey Entrance “will eventually become irrelevant.”
“While buildings come and go, we would like for Mr. Morey’s legacy and recognition to continue into perpetuity and we think the park across the street from Memorial would be the perfect way to see that happen,” Hubbs wrote in a letter to Emery introducing the idea.
Hubbs suggested a city park sign as well as a plaque explaining who Morey was and why he was important to the community. He said Memorial would pay for the plaque. Memorial Health will pay nearly $255,000 of the park’s projected $275,000 price tag.
“Obviously, it is happening because of the impact and the input of Memorial Hospital,” Emery said.
Councilman Henk Berbee said all the city parks, except Partner’s Park, have a family name, but no first names. He suggested using Morey Bicentennial Park.
Other council members felt like the name Morey Park would be more in line with the other city parks.
Member Mark Reams warned council to remember that another park will likely be created across the street.
“I just want us to consider how the two of these are tied together,” Reams said.
Mayor J.R. Rausch said he appreciated Memorial Health’s decision to keep the hospital in the city’s Uptown and to contribute to the park.
“That decision to stay Uptown has had a huge impact on the feasibility of the Uptown,” Rausch said.
Emery said the park will really “open up the Uptown” and serve as a gateway.
Councilmember Alan Seymour would like to see the park used to help connect a walking path from Eljer Park, along the Town Run, into the Uptown.
Hubbs said Memorial Health will likely add another 200 employees over the next five years. He said he anticipates that some of them will be located in the Uptown.
While no decision was made, Emery said the city is “going to move pretty quickly on this.
City Engineer Jeremy Hoyt said construction of the park will begin in June to hit the August deadline.
The park is part of a series of improvements to the area.
The city will replace the culvert on Plum Street and repave a stretch of that road.
Hoyt said the culvert on Plum Street is old, and needs to be replaced. He said there are no specific problems with the culvert; it’s simply nearing the end of its 75-100 year lifespan.
The city also plans to widen Plum Street from Ninth Street to the culvert. A landscaped boulevard section will be included in the entrance to Plum Street form Ninth Street.
The city also plans to repave Plum Street from the culvert to nearly the end of Memorial’s emergency room parking lot.
Hoyt has said the city has had several meetings with Memorial to coordinate and prevent the projects from affecting each other.
According to city projections, the project is estimated to cost about $900,000. Memorial Health will pay $200,000 of that total, along with an estimated additional $94,000 to bury utility lines in the area.
“We are really excited about making this area more aesthetically pleasing,” Emery said.