Effort To Rename Fort Steilacoom Park After Claudia Thomas Fails

LAKEWOOD, WA — Fort Steilacoom Park will not be renamed, following a vote from Lakewood's Parks & Recreation Advisory Board Tuesday.

The board had been asked to weigh in on a proposal to rename the park after Dr. Claudia B. Thomas, but board members ultimately voted unanimously against the plan. The city says the board found the renaming effort did not have broad support, and that most public comments opposed renaming the park.

According to the City of Lakewood, the renaming effort did not begin with local leaders— a Lakewood resident completed an application proposing the name change, and the city followed the necessary procedure to consider it. If the board had voted in favor of the renaming, the proposal would have then gone on to City Council for consideration.

Though the park will not be renamed after Thomas, the city does note that Thomas was an "honorable and important" figure in Lakewood's history. Thomas was elected mayor of Lakewood in 2006, making her the first female Black mayor in Washington state. She also served on the inaugural City Council when Lakewood was first incorporated in 1995, and was the Deputy Mayor from 1995 to 2003. She passed away in 2018 at the age of 87. The News Tribune's report on her death calls Thomas a "Lakewood legend" who will be "remembered as a trailblazer."

Though Fort Steilacoom Park will not bear her name, she is the namesake of the Clover Park School District's Thomas Middle School.