Rifle City Council held an extended discussion at its April 2 meeting over a proposed Parks and Recreation policy regarding the naming of public facilities.

The policy was initially brought forward during a work session on March 19. Parks and Recreation Director Austin Rickstrew was asked to draft the policy to address how parks, fields and other public facilities could be named after individuals, families or organizations.

The issue dates back to 2019, when the council placed a moratorium on naming public amenities after people or groups until an official policy could be created.

Under the new policy, naming proposals would first go through the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, also known as PRAB. Mayor Pro Tem Chris Bornholdt, who chaired PRAB at the time of the moratorium, shared the board’s thinking from six years ago.

“A lot of it was that someone does something for 20 years, right, 20 years from that snapshot of time, any of the kids that are playing baseball don’t know who Cooper was,” Bornholdt said.

He referred to Gordon Cooper, a longtime Rifle High School coach who died in May 2022. The main field at Deerfield Park is named Cooper Field.

“The fields are named after him, but they don’t know that,” Bornholdt said. “They don’t know why.”

Bornholdt argued that names can lose meaning over time and suggested honoring people through plaques instead.

“We built Cooper Field, it’s got that brick building on the end of it there, and if you had a bunch of plaques in there for everybody that made a good effort, donated a lot of time, then all those people are memorialized in there now, and you’re not naming it after one person,” he said. “So what makes that one person better than somebody else?”

The intent, Bornholdt said, was to recognize many contributors instead of elevating one name above the rest.

But Councilor Clint Hostettler disagreed, saying naming a facility after an individual has lasting value.

“These kids know who Cooper is, because the field is named after Cooper and they ask their coach now, who was Cooper, and Troy Phillips tells them now, Cooper was a guy who coached in the ’70s and ’80s and did all these things,” Hostettler said. “It gets passed down, that’s why you name it after someone who’s contributed so much.”

He said plaques are meaningful, but names carry a legacy.

“Why can’t it be taken on a case-by-case basis? Why can’t we put individuals back into that sentence?” he asked.

Councilor Joe Carpenter agreed, noting that many honored individuals never sought recognition. He also pointed out that places like Taughenbaugh Field and the Mesa were named after early Rifle families.

Councilors Karen Roberts and Michael Clancy said they hadn’t realized the origin of the Taughenbaugh name.

Councilor Alicia Gresley suggested the policy could include an asterisk to clarify that individuals are not excluded if nominations come from the community.

Mayor Sean Strode said the policy may not gain full consensus, but he didn’t see that as a problem.

“Just because we pass this, doesn’t mean it’s set in stone forever,” Strode said.

The adopted policy does not explicitly name individuals as eligible honorees, but it also does not exclude them—leaving the door open for future proposals.

Council ultimately passed the policy in a 4-3 vote. Strode, Clancy, Roberts and Bornholdt voted in favor, while Carpenter, Hostettler and Gresley voted against.