Oshawa to name new park after General Motors truck
Published March 29, 2022 at 1:29 pm
Oshawa is naming a new city park in the east end after a General Motors truck, despite some negative buzz on social media and one councillor’s view that naming parks after cars is a “dated” concept that is past its prime.
The new park near Townline Road and Adelaide Avenue will be named Silverado Park, in honour of the vehicle now in production at the Oshawa Assembly Plant.
The park is also right next to established neighbourhoods on both sides of Adelaide that have streets named after GM vehicles from the 1970s and 1980s, including Eldorado Avenue, Skylark Avenue and Vega Court.
Councillor Rosemary McConkey said naming the park after a car is bad timing, considering the City has a Diversity and Inclusion Officer on the payroll and more diversity in naming parks and City facilities is needed.
Her Facebook post on the subject was filled with negative responses, with one poster noting that GM should pay for the naming rights and the maintenance of the park as well.
“A lot more thought needs to go into this,” McConkey said.
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Her fellow councillors disagreed and her motion to send the proposal back to staff was lost for want of a seconder.
“This is what they’re building,” said Councillor John Gray. “It’s one of the reasons GM came back to Oshawa. It is a good way to recognize that.”
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