It was revealed Oct. 20 that there is a possibility Marion City Council could actually entertain the idea of changing the name of Central Park to Brooker Park.

I was at that meeting and I was mortified that the council would even consider such a notion.

Nine years ago, the Brooker family generously gave the city $50,000 to restore the historic springs in Central Park. It was a wonderfully, generous gift, resulting in a beautiful area now named in the family’s honor.

Unfortunately, some extraordinarily long strings may have been attached. The family now says it is willing to give another $50,000 — but only if the entire park, not just the springs, is renamed. If the city does not accept, the family wants its original $50,000 back.

The questions we hear are numerous and varied:

Did someone with the city secretly promise a decade ago to sell naming rights in exchange for the first gift? If so, why didn’t he or she tell anyone? Is there documentation that someone authorized to act on behalf of the city to actually accept the proposition?

More important, will the original $50,000 plus the additional $50,000 be enough to take care of the entire park in perpetuity? The restored springs are a great feature, but so, too, are many other donated things — playground equipment, fountains, the gas lights that eventually were removed because of vandalism. Everything, including individual trees and benches, were all contributed by groups of donors or individuals.

Will future donors be willing to donate not to a Central Park memorializing many, but to a park memorializing just one family?

We urge the city to give these answers to the family:

“Thank you for your kind offer of an additional $50,000. We would love to work with you to find another project to undertake, either inside the park or elsewhere. We’d even name it in your honor. If, however, you insist that we rename the whole park in honor of your additional gift, we’re afraid it might stifle other donations and we are going to have to say no.

“We also want to thank you once again for your original $50,000. We were so pleased by that gift that we named the springs in your honor. If someone gave you the impression that we were going to rename the whole park because of that gift, we’re sincerely sorry.”

Now that both the city and the family have been backed into corners, it’s possible one or both may end up saying “no,” not when they are supposed to but because it’s the only reasonable way out of this mess.

If that happens, we will need another solution: a grassroots fund-raising campaign called Save Central Park, which this newspaper would be honored to help kick off with a donation.

If we can’t fix what’s been broken, let’s at least preserve our dignity here and raise enough money to replace the extra $50,000, or in the worst case scenario, the original $50,000 as well.

We don’t need your money or even a specific pledge now. We just need to know whether you would be willing to give.

If saving the Central Park name is important to you, e-mail us at letters@marionrecord.com or drop us a line at Save Central Park, c/o Marion County Record, 117 S. Third, P.O. Box 278, Marion KS 66861.

— susan berg