The city’s Park and Recreation Board voted unanimously this morning to temporarily rename Lee Park, a little more than a week after the statue of the Confederate general that gave the park its name was removed.
Oak Lawn Park, the park’s original name until 1936, will serve as a placeholder title pending the recommendations of the city’s task force on Confederate monuments, and whatever the city decides to do with those recommendations. A permanent name change must also apparently await a new city policy on renaming parks, per Park Board President Bobby Abtahi at this morning’s meeting. Meanwhile, the park board approved spending about $40,000 to remove any “Lee Park” signage at Oak Lawn Park.
The city’s task force on Confederate monuments is set to meet later today to discuss changing Dallas streets named for Confederate figures, including prominent thoroughfares like Lemmon and Gaston.
