City Manager Mark Schwieterman said, “Kress would like to talk about the historical nature of the park’s name.”
The meeting between Dayton History, Montgomery County’s official historical society, and Kettering parks department officials was set last week after Kress learned of the park renaming proposal.
No formal request to rename the park has been submitted, but earlier this month, Vince Chalecki, a Kettering City councilman between 1982 and 1990, informed the park board that he would like to see the nearly 70-acre park on Woodman Center Drive be renamed to Kettering Veterans Park. He said the name would honor both the late Virginia Kettering, daughter-in-law of inventor Charles F. Kettering, and military veterans.
Chalecki and Jim Snyder of the Korean Veterans Memorial Association are scheduled to meet with Mary Beth Thaman, Kettering parks director, March 1 to discuss their proposal.
The Parks, Recreation & Cultural Arts Advisory Board is likely to discuss the renaming proposal at their April 8 meeting. The board would then decide whether to put the name-change recommendation before City Council .
Chalecki and Thaman said Virginia Kettering helped convinced General Motors Corp. to donate the land to the city in 1995.
Charles Kettering was one of the founders of Delco, which stood for Dayton Engineering Laboratories Co. The company was sold to United Motors Corp in 1916 and eventually sold, under the new name of Delco Light, to General Motors in 1918 after United Motors Corp. and Chevrolet Motor Co. merged into General Motors.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2414 or kwynn@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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