THATCHER — Approving the final plat for the Town of Thatcher’s new commercial park was the easy part. Selecting a name was a different matter.
The council voted unanimously Monday to approve the plat for the new Thatcher Commercial Plaza, formerly known as Red Lamp.
Approval was required to have the plat recorded by the county, which will then allow the park’s first tenant — American Southwest Credit Union —to begin escrow and complete the sale of one of the commercial pads.
It was the name under which the land will be recorded that spurred friendly debate among the council, with Mayor Randy Bryce and Town Manager Heath Brown favoring keeping the Red Lamp name as a way to acknowledge the history of the property. But Vice Mayor Ashley Smith said the name doesn’t sit well with all residents of the town.
“It sounds like ‘Red Light District,’ Red Lamp, and people just don’t want to associate the plaza with that,” Smith said.
Councilman Ryan Rapier suggested the name Crimson Court, which echoes the land’s previous title, but his suggestion didn’t get any traction and instead the name Thatcher Commercial Plaza was used for the plat approval and recording.
Another name can be used for marketing the property to prospective businesses, and Smith said that will likely happen.
“I think we’ll think of something else. We’ll talk about it and see,” she said.
