Bangor’s 2nd Street Park Is Getting A Perfectly Fitting New Name

The spot certainly has had its ups and downs

Bangor's 2nd Street Park has seen its fair share of history in this town. When I was a boy, it seemed pretty cool. And since I grew up on 4th Street, its proximity was perfect. But, by the time I got to high school, the park's reputation had started to slide a bit. And by the time I left Bangor for a while, it had all but collapsed.

The problems were mostly at night. During the day, the park was relatively normal. But there were stories of kids finding needles and other drug paraphernalia scattered about. To the point that more recently, people have literally started referring to it as Needle Park. Obviously, this is not what the city wants. So they set about changing things.

The times, and the park, are a-changin'...

Bangor is doing all sorts of things down in that area. The park has been cleaned up immeasurably, and it was time for a new name. In fact, one of the main criteria for Bangor changing the name is because of the park's previous negative image, according to WABI.

The city has chosen to rename it after Maine's first black legislator: Gerald Talbot. Talbot, who's celebrating his 90th birthday this year, has been a civil rights pioneer in this area and grew up in the 2nd Street neighborhood. So it seemed a perfect choice. Tracy Willette of Bangor Parks & Rec said this:

It’s a good opportunity to perhaps rebrand the park a little bit, in honor of certainly the significant civil rights work that he did both locally, at the state level and the national levels. It’s a good way for us to recognize those efforts that he’s made throughout his life so far, and what better occasion on his 90th birthday for us to try and do that.

Parks & Rec will work with Talbot's family and work out the details for the re-naming ceremony.