Memorial park bench leads ideas for honoring late Burnsville official

Charlie Crichton's name is already in the Burnsville history books, but it's taken a long time to find a public place to honor him.

For months, city officials have been mulling memorial ideas for the longtime city councilman, who died in March.

After one City Council meeting and three Parks Commission meetings, a first choice has emerged: a bench and plaque at the Alimagnet Dog Park.

Renaming the dog park itself for Crichton was the first suggestion to surface, only to meet opposition from supporters of the park who said a new name would change the identity of the well-known spot and possibly jeopardize future financial donations.

Other ideas bounced around: How about a forest or boulevard, in which a tree named for Crichton would be the first? Or a renaming a local community garden or walking path? An honorary designation of the intersection of Burnsville Parkway and Nicollet Avenue as "Crichton Corner?"

Maybe even renaming a street? (Too expensive, officials said, as a legacy for a man who championed lower taxes.)

The dog park bench idea seems to have the edge, but it still needs approval from the City Council.

"My husband would be sitting there studying his City Council stuff and then he'd come up for air and say, 'When are we going to the dog park?'" she said.

They went every Sunday, the councilman often sitting on a bench to watch their two dogs scamper around.

She said Crichton was proud of the dog park and the awards it had received.

And, as council members noted in their discussion of honoring the outspoken, fiscally conservative Crichton, it was paid for by a grant.