Sammamish renames Pigott land donation, ‘Big Rock Park’

Sometimes the answer is as simple as looking at the world through a child’s eyes.

Sometimes the answer is as simple as looking at the world through a child’s eyes.

That’s the logic the Sammamish City Council used Tuesday, voting to permanently name SE 8th Street Park, “Big Rock Park.”

“In the eyes of a child, the kid realizes that’s what it is and I think that makes sense,” said council member John Curley, who earlier spoke to a mother of a 4-year-old who already refers to the park by the name.

Mary Pigott, who donated 51 acres of park property, was allowed to speak on the naming issue before the council made its decision.

“What I like really is not the most important thing,” she said. “I love a 4-year-old saying, ‘Well yeah, that’s what it is.’”

The council voted 5-1 to approve the name, with council member John James absent and council member Nancy Whitten opposing.

Whitten preferred the name Frog Pond Park, which was originally scratched from the list of possible names by Pigott, before recently being approved as an alternative.

“There’s lots of big rocks around and there’s parks like that within our distance so I’m in favor of the other,” Whitten said.

The city of Duvall does have a Big Rock Park, but the council decided it was far enough away.

Site A of Sammamish’s park, a 16-acre piece of land opened to the public in 2011, also has a rock on the property people refer to as “Big Rock.”

That was the deciding factor for some, noting that Frog Pond Park could have given children false hope because frogs hibernate in the winter.

“If I take (my grandson) to Big Rock Park, he’s going to say ‘Where’s the big rock,’ and by golly when you get to the big rock he’s going to be excited,” said council member Don Gerend.