Why can't you name this park in Silver Spring?

Montgomery Parks, the parks department of Montgomery County, is promising a chance to sort-of help name the County's newest park, now under construction at 1110 East-West Highway in downtown Silver Spring. But in true Montgomery County facepalm fashion, you have to pick one of three names they've already chosen. And one of those is the placeholding name it's already known by at the moment.

The three possible names you can vote on are:

• Bottleworks Urban Park, which will refer to the Coca-Cola and Canada Dry bottling plants that once operated in this formerly-industrial part of town
• Kennett Street Urban Park, which recalls that nearby street's status as an industrial corridor in the mid-20th-century
• South Silver Spring Urban Park, which is what the park is currently named

Bottleworks is probably the most vivid of the three names - in very relative terms. Most people who either lived here prior to the transformation of downtown Silver Spring, or who are familiar with its history, have a favorable opinion or fond recollection of the Canada Dry facility. It seems like it would make more sense to call it Canada Dry Park if we were going in that direction, although I imagine there would be some legal trademark objection, despite the free publicity for ginger ale.

But if you think of all the prominent people associated with Silver Spring, or even some aspirational national or international figures, the selection of choices being offered is underwhelming to say the least. Voting will close at the end of the day on May 7. If you would like to vote on one of the three names, you have an equal number of ways to do so:

1. Online via the South Silver Spring Urban Park naming survey  
2. By phone:  301-495-2595 (Please reference South Silver Spring Urban Park renaming contest)  
3. By mail:      2425 Reedie Drive, 12th Floor, Wheaton, MD 20902  Attn: Public Affairs