Dadeville city leaders approved a resolution Tuesday officially renaming a local playground.
The Dadeville City Council established a new name for “Creation Plantation” playground during a regularly scheduled meeting on September 13.
Mayor Jimmy “Frank” Goodman initiated the conversation while reviewing business from the council’s previous meeting in which Councilwoman Teneeshia Goodman-Johnson submitted a proposal requesting a new name for the play area.
“On to old business, it was brought up last meeting about renaming the playground at Keebler Park. Are there any suggestions about this?” Goodman asked of the council members.
During the August 24 meeting, Goodman-Johnson urged the city to alter the name due to racist connotation.
“I know what a plantation is. I’m educated and understand the definition. I’m also educated enough to know as a black woman the ties to a plantation in the Deep South,” said Goodman-Johnson at the prior meeting. “I don’t like it, and I am greatly offended.”
A Dadeville city leader is urging that a local playground be renamed due a racist connotation.
At the time, council members debated the process for selecting a new name, with Councilwoman Brownie Caldwell initially suggesting Dadeville’s children choose a new name.
However, on Tuesday, Goodman-Johnson proposed removing the words “Creation Plantation” entirely from the playground’s name.
“I would like to make a recommendation that we just rename it to Keebler Park [playground],” Goodman-Johnson said.
Mayor Goodman submitted the suggestion to a vote with all five council members unanimously adopting Goodman-Johnson’s proposal.
The playground has remained closed to the public since the city demolished the previous recreational equipment, but will soon be replaced according to Dadeville council members.
Dadeville is currently rebuilding the playground, formerly known as “Creation Plantation”, after an inspection revealed safety hazards within the park, which prompted city officials to demolish the playground earlier this year. The renovated play area will be designated with the new name once construction is complete.
