Kanawha County Parks and Recreation Commission Story Archives

W.Va. Park Uses Inmates to Fill Jobs

Kanawha County parks officials have made up for a shortage of summer workers at Coonskin Park by using prison inmates.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports Parks Director Jeff Hutchinson told members of the Kanawha County Parks and Recreation Commission that 11 inmates from the Charleston Correctional Center began work at the park this week.

The inmates are cutting grass, trimming weeds, painting and doing maintenance. Hutchinson says all the inmates are non-violent offenders in the process of being released on parole.

Hutchinson made arrangements with the state Department of Corrections to provide part-time labor in the park after struggling with an ongoing problem getting and keeping workers. Inmates supply the work for free, in exchange for lunch.

Proposed Renaming of Coonskin Park Dropped

A Kanawha County parks official has dropped a proposal to rename Coonskin Park following a public outcry.

Retired state Adj. Gen. Allen Tackett tells media outlets he won’t push something that the public doesn’t want. He withdrew the proposal from the agenda for the commission’s Thursday meeting.

Tackett is president of the Kanawha County Parks and Recreation Commission. He had said earlier that the park’s name could be offensive to black residents.

Coonskin Park was built in 1950 in an area formerly called Coonskin Hollow. The name refers to raccoon pelts.

Tackett had proposed renaming the park for Kanawha County Commissioner Hoppy Shores, who was recently elected to his seventh term.

Coonskin Park's Name to Change?

The head of the Kanawha County Parks and Recreation Commission is seeking to change the name of Coonskin Park in Charleston.

Retired state Adj. Gen. Allen Tackett wants to change the park’s name because some people are offended by it.

The Charleston Gazette reports that the name is generally associated with a type of fur cap made from a raccoon skin but Tackett notes the term could be offensive to others.

The commission is set to discuss the name change at a Thursday meeting.

Tackett says now is the time to discuss it since new signs already will have to be made for a new entrance for the park. He’s suggesting the park be named for Kanawha County Commissioner Hoppy Shores, who was just elected to his seventh term.