Bellingham wants you to help name its newest waterfront park. Which is your favorite?
Bellingham residents are being asked to help name a new city park, and already the suggestions are running from serious to silly — Glass Beach, Lhaq’temish Park, Resting Beach Face and (of course) Beachy McBeachFace.
An online announcement describes the contest to name the park that’s planned along the Bellingham waterfront at the south end of Cornwall Avenue, a site that city officials temporarily are calling Cornwall Beach Park.
It’s currently undergoing environmental cleanup because part of the site is a former landfill and the location of heavy industry that used toxic chemicals.
An early crowd favorite is Glass Beach Park, a colloquial name because of the eroded and worn sea glass found along the pebbly shoreline.
“If you sit on the beach and look at the sand there are countless small pieces of glass from all the bottles thrown away there in the landfill days,” said Brad Lockhart, a graphic artist and creator of the Bellingham flag and the official city logo.
“I actually find the glass chunks charming because they are all smooth and multi-colored. Even though they are trash it’s fun to think about the history of each one,” he told The Bellingham Herald via Facebook messenger.
Other proposed names include Lhaq’temish Park, the name used by the indigenous Lummi Nation to say People of the Sea.
“Indigenous names for places are often erased — if we are going to give this place an official name, we should honor the land’s stewards since time immemorial,” said an online user called LandBack.
From the shore of the new park, visitors will be able to see Lummi Island and the Lummi Peninsula.
Nicole Oliver, director of the Parks and Recreation Department, told The Herald that the process for naming parks is prescribed by city code and the City Council has the final say.
This story was originally published March 11, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
