Council directs staff to pursue naming aquatic center for Paul T. Nakamura and involve family in design

Santa Fe Springs council members instructed staff to pursue naming the city’s Aquatic Center for Paul T. Nakamura and to work with the Nakamura family and design consultants on memorial elements, but stopped short of a final vote.

Gus Hernandez, parks and recreation director, said the city’s naming ordinance and a state grant condition require the word "Regional" in the facility name for the second phase of improvements. Staff’s recommendation was to name the facility the Paul T. Nakamura Regional Aquatic Center so the name can be incorporated into final design and commemorative elements.

"One requirement, that we did have, from the grants, that we received from the state of California is that, the word regional, has to be, in in the name," Hernandez said during the presentation.

Council members and staff discussed options for memorial displays — photographs, plaques and lifeguard-chair treatments — and several council members urged that the family be involved in final design and that memorial elements appear in multiple locations within the facility. Members noted existing memorials to Nakamura, including a plaque at a U.S. Army training center named for him and a prior small memorial at the aquatic center.

Council direction was for staff to develop renderings in coordination with the Nakamura family, work the design into construction documents, and return to the council for formal naming and final approval. No formal naming ordinance or resolution vote was taken at the meeting.