Help name Burlington’s largest city park

In 2002 the City of Burlington, in partnership with the Bruce Trail Conservancy, acquired a 165 acre parcel of land near Dundas Street and Kerns Road along the Niagara Escarpment in the northwest corner of the city. By the fall of 2011 development of the first phase of this park, including significant re-naturalization, construction of two soccer fields, playground and trails was nearing completion. Along the way the unnamed recreational area became known as New City Park - not a real name, mind you, more of a bookmark or placeholder. Still, the name has shown up on maps and websites, including the ubiquitous Google Maps.

Now, as the grand opening of the city's largest park nears, it's time to give the place it's due. It's time to name New City... um, Burlington's largest city park.

To get the process started, we surveyed several community groups - Conservation Halton, Niagara Escarpment Commission, the local chapter of the Bruce Trail Conservancy, Burlington Historical Society and several park-user groups - and asked for potential names. They came back with a combined list of 25 names.

We then used city naming protocols to narrow the list to three candidates. City rules governing naming parks directed us to seek names that reflect historic and geographic aspects, resonate with and are readily identifiable by the greater community and convey a sense of place. Those same rules directed us to avoid using names that are too similar to existing names or are already in use. That helped pare the list to three potential names.

VOTING IS NOW CLOSED.