Robbinsdale To Consider Two Options for Renaming Sanborn Park
On Sept. 17, the public will get to weigh in on a new name for Robbinsdale’s Sanborn Park.
Robbinsdale Mayor Bill Blonigan led the effort to change the name. Research revealed that the Sanborn family put in racially restrictive covenants when they sold land for development about 100 years ago.
“I’m ending my term. It’s been two years since I brought this up. I want that Sanborn name and the racially restrictive harm out,” said Mayor Blonigan.
Two options considered for the new name: Castile Park, named after Philando Castile, a Black man fatally shot by police during a traffic stop in 2016; and Shoreline Park, named after the road where the park is located.
Blonigan favors the Shoreline Park name.
Robbinsdale Mayor Bill Blonigan was one of the people who petitioned to have Sanborn Park’s name changed to Shoreline Park.
“I’m thinking a lot of people did bad things in their lives. Let’s just take that out of the equation and name it after a geographic area. I would rather go with that at this point,” said Blonigan.
Meanwhile, Blonigan added that he wasn’t necessarily opposed to the Castile Park suggestion, which was brought forth by the city’s Human Rights Commission.
“People that want to name it Castile Park have a really good point,” he said. “Like, there’s all these things in the city named after white people. Why can’t we have something named after a Black person at some point in time?”
The city will hold a public hearing on the name change during the Sept. 17 city council meeting. The city council could vote on the name change at that meeting or ask city staff for more time.
