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What's in a park name? No confusion, council hopes

It took four months, a little paperwork and a lot of discussion but a tiny park on Coquitlam's Burke Mountain finally appears to have a name.

It took four months, a little paperwork and a lot of discussion but a tiny park on Coquitlam's Burke Mountain finally appears to have a name.

On Monday, the city's recreation committee offered "Millard Orchard Park" as the new moniker for Millard Park, which some councillors suggested would be confused with "Maillard" or places in Maillardville.

Coun. Brent Asmundson, a Burke Mountain resident, urged the committee to keep the original name of Millard Park, a still-undeveloped green space located in the 3000-block of Millard Avenue, north of David Avenue.

The Northeast Coquitlam Ratepayers' Association also wants the name to remain and, in a letter to the city this month, cited the history of the Millard family, who are Burke pioneers. According to longtime Burke Mountain resident Vi Johnstone, the Millards owned land from the Coquitlam River to the west side of Coast Meridian Road and many of their descendants live in Coquitlam.

But Mayor Richard Stewart, who grew up in Maillardville, said a misspelling on a GPS could result in a commuter being navigated to the wrong place.

"Millard and Maillard sound like," Coun. Mae Reid added. "We need some distinguishing."

City council is expected to endorsed the name "Millard Orchard Park" at Monday's meeting.

jwarren@tricitynews.com