LIVERMORE FALLS — Selectmen said a petition needs is needed to get an article on the June ballot asking voters if they want to change the name of the Geneva Hodgkins Memorial Park back to Union Park.
On behalf of veterans, Palmer Hebert of Livermore Falls proposed an article for the June referendum, Town Manager Kristal Flagg said. She presented the request at the selectmen meeting March 18.
The issue of the park’s name has been ongoing for a couple of years, Chairman Bill Demaray said at the meeting.
The board changed the name in 2008 after Geneva Hodgkins, who restored the park, cleaned it up and took care of it for five years before she died in 2008. Her family still takes care of the park in memory of her.
The Grand Army of the Republic initially donated the park to the town in the early 1900s in memory of Union soldiers who fought in the Civil War, according to veterans.
Veterans asked selectmen in August 2013 to change the name back to Union Park. By the end of that meeting, veterans and town officials said they would work with the Hodgkins’ family to try and resolve the conflict of the name.
Hebert is required to get 110 signatures of registered voters and present it to selectmen by April 15, Town Clerk Sue Sapiel said Tuesday.
dperry@sunjournal.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
