Proposed Renaming of Coonskin Park Dropped

A Kanawha County parks official has dropped a proposal to rename Coonskin Park following a public outcry.

Retired state Adj. Gen. Allen Tackett tells media outlets he won’t push something that the public doesn’t want. He withdrew the proposal from the agenda for the commission’s Thursday meeting.

Tackett is president of the Kanawha County Parks and Recreation Commission. He had said earlier that the park’s name could be offensive to black residents.

Coonskin Park was built in 1950 in an area formerly called Coonskin Hollow. The name refers to raccoon pelts.

Tackett had proposed renaming the park for Kanawha County Commissioner Hoppy Shores, who was recently elected to his seventh term.