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The Auburn City Council got into the name-calling business this week but there wasn’t anything nasty about it.
The council named Auburn’s railroad/bus station on Nevada Street for Robert F. “Bob” Conheim, a train buff extraordinaire and nationally known passenger train booster who died July 15 at age 63, a victim of cancer.
Robert F. “Bob” Conheim
And while they were still in the mood to name things, the council
members decided to stay with the title Auburn School Park Preserve for
the 4.3-acre park project behind City Hall that’s nearing completion.
It was Councilman Kevin Hanley, himself a frequent rider of the
Amtrak’s Capitol Corridor commuter train, who pushed the idea of naming
the station for Conheim, who was a State of California lawyer until
illness forced his retirement late last year. District 3 Supervisor Jim
Holmes, who did not attend the meeting, also pushed for the tribute to
Conheim.
Several train commuters, who call themselves the CC Riders, were in the
audience when the council considered the matter. One of them, Chuck
Robuck, called Conheim “an inspiration” to his traveling companions.
In his pitch to his council colleagues, Hanley stated:
“I believe that when a governmental body names a facility, road or park
after a deceased community member, it expresses its heartfelt values.
Throughout his life, Bob Conheim displayed unquestioned integrity and
was an advocate for the public good. By naming our train and bus
station after Robert F. Conheim, we would be expressing our clear
support for the values he embodied.”
Mayor Bob Snyder suggested that an appropriate plaque honoring Conheim
be placed at the station, but he said the city doesn’t have the money
to pay for it but stands willing to install it. Robuck said the CC
riders will see to the plaque and Hanley agreed to handle the city’s
end of it.
People have been calling the 4.3-acre, oak-studded parcel between City
Hall and the Placer High School campus the “Auburn School Park
Preserve” for more than a decade, and the council saw no reason to
change it.
Bob Gilliom, representing the numerous organizations that have helped
finance the multi-million dollar undertaking, spoke in favor of keeping
the name Auburn School Park Preserve. He also noted that the creek that
will soon flow through the park actually is North Rich Ravine; it’s
been mistakenly referred to as Lincoln Creek for as long as anyone can
remember.
The council made the park’s name official Monday night despite two suggestions that it be called something else.
Michael Otten, president of the Placer County Historical Society,
wanted to see it named for Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, the youngest
member of the Lewis and Clark expedition and an Auburn resident from
1849 to 1866. He is buried near Danner OR and his gravesite is listed
in the National Register of Historic Places.
Snyder and Councilman Keith Nesbitt indicated that perhaps Charbonneau’s name could be used on a future project.
Richard Sanborn, a longtime local resident and a rumored city council
candidate in the 2008 municipal election, urged the council to call it
the Lincoln Way School Park Preserve because the land was used as a
playground when he and many other Auburnites attended Lincoln Way
School, which was abandoned due to earthquake safety concerns nearly a
half-century ago and now serves as City Hall.
The original name of the
building was the Auburn Grammar School.
In a related matter, the council directed Public Works Chief Jack
Warren to advertise for bids for the restoration of the Cooper
Amphitheater, a major landmark in the park. Warren’s estimate for the
job is $388,189, which he said will be funded by a California Cultural
and Historical Endowment Grant. Engineering and contract administration
costs will be negotiated with the Skyview Foundation, which was
established by Bob Gilliom and his late wife Susan Cooley-Gilliom.
The overall project is expected to be open for public use next spring.
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