Anchorage Assembly to consider renaming Eagle River park for Pippel family

Assembly Chair Anna Brawley and Member Donald Handeland are bringing a proposal to rename Eagle River Commons Park as Pippel's Field Park to the Anchorage Assembly on Wednesday. It is on the agenda for introduction, with a public hearing set for Dec. 1. Handeland represents Chugiak, Eagle River and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

The name would honor Walter and Melva Pippel, Matanuska colonists who bought a 160-acre Eagle River homestead from Lars Nyberg in 1944, according to a Chugiak-Eagle River Historical Society packet. Their farm grew potatoes, cabbage, lettuce and other crops for Anchorage markets and the military bases. It covered what is now Business Boulevard and the surrounding subdivisions, the center of downtown Eagle River.

The field also had ball fields, which gave Centerfield Drive its name, and hang gliders landed there after taking off from Mt. Baldy. In 1959 part of the potato barn housed the volunteer fire department's truck. Walter farmed until a stroke disabled him in the mid-1960s, and the field west of the Old Glenn Highway became an informal park residents called Pippel's Field. Walter died in 1969, and Melva later sold the land.

The historical society first asked in May to rename Eagle River Town Square Park, then amended its request in August to the adjacent Commons Park, a large open park with a playground and picnic areas that sits within the old Pippel farm.

The Eagle River/Chugiak Parks and Recreation Board of Supervisors backed the change July 13, and the Eagle River Community Council's directors did so unanimously Sept. 10. The Public Naming Commission voted 5-0 Oct. 14 to recommend the change, citing the family's ties to the area since the 1930s and the name's common use for decades, according to a memo from Commission Chair Darrel Hess.

Eagle River resident Doris Thomas wrote in support, adding, "My only concern is that folks are likely to mispronounce it and call it the 'People's Park.'"

Assembly approval would make the name official. Residents can testify at the Dec. 1 hearing in person, by phone or in writing online.