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Residents urge council to keep 'Simpsonville City Park' name, propose honoring Grace Lee instead
Summary
During public comment, residents urged Simpsonville leaders not to remove 'City Park' from the downtown park's name and proposed naming a feature after Grace Lee as a compromise; commenters also praised the city administrator's recent work.
Residents used the public-comment period to press the Simpsonville City Council to retain the downtown park's current name and to oppose renaming the park to honor an individual.
An unnamed resident (Speaker 2) told the council they were "opposed to removing the words ... city park from the park that is in the heart of the city," saying the change would signal the park belonged to one person rather than to residents. The speaker suggested as a compromise that a feature of the park be named for Grace Lee rather than removing the words "City Park" from the park's formal name.
Kathy Murphy, who identified herself and said she lives at 414 South Holland, said she agreed and that "Simpsonville City Park lets you know exactly where it is," adding that the council may have arrived at the renaming decision too quickly.
Several other speakers praised the city administrator (named in the record as Diane Gracely) for recent accomplishments and said they supported recognizing that work. One commenter said of the administrator: "She has a Rolodex in her head that you would not believe," emphasizing her role in advancing local revitalization efforts.
What happened next: after public comment the council moved to agenda Item 7A, where staff presented a zoning text amendment. The transcript records no final action on park naming during this meeting.
