The Philomath City Council voted unanimously Monday evening to rename Dale Collins Park to Dale Collins Memorial Park in honor of the longtime volunteer and former mayor who died June 14 at age 81.
City Manager Chris Workman asked councilors at the July 13 meeting to add the renaming as a new business item on the agenda, noting that permanent signage for the park — located at Applegate Street and 15th Street — will soon be fabricated.
“The new reader board is up if you haven’t seen it already,” Workman said. “We’re getting ready to make the permanent signs that are going to go above and below with the name of the park.”
Workman said the city typically follows a formal process for park naming but asked the council for approval to bypass that step given the timing of the sign project.
“If the council’s OK with skipping the formal process, all we need is approval from the City Council to name a park and so you can do that with a motion,” he said.
Councilor Jessica Andrade made the motion to rename the park, which was seconded by Councilor Brent Kaseman. It passed 6-0, with one councilor absent.
Before the vote, councilors briefly discussed other ways to honor Collins’ decades of community service. Mayor Christopher McMorran suggested “Dale Collins Memorial Volunteers Park” for the location, or perhaps the renaming of another park in town as a way to spotlight Philomath’s spirit of volunteerism more broadly.
Councilor Spencer Irwin voiced support for the idea. Councilor Diane Crocker proposed a different approach — installing a plaque at the park bearing Collins’ name with space to add standout volunteers nominated annually by the council.
“That would do the purpose of honoring his volunteerism and put it into today, too,” Crocker said.
Ultimately, McMorran and Workman both said they preferred keeping it simple for now and just changing the park’s name. Workman said the new permanent sign will include the city logo, the park’s new name and wood framing, similar to the Philomath City Park sign.
“It looks a little small now but it’s going to get built out and beefed up a little bit more,” Workman said, adding that the sign will also acknowledge the Philomath Lions Club for its financial contribution to the project.
Collins moved to Philomath in 1972 and impacted the community for decades through volunteering. He also served as mayor, city councilor, chamber president and served on the city’s park board. He was a past president of the local chamber of commerce, was active with the Philomath Lions Club and volunteered with the fire department. Recognition for his service included the Lions Club’s Melvin Jones Award and two Philomath First Citizen honors.
The original Dale Collins Park reader board, dedicated in 2013, carried the phrase “City of Volunteers” — a tagline widely associated with Collins’ influence on the community.
