City residents will have more than political candidates to choose when they mark their ballots at the polls on Nov.4.
They will also decide whether to change the name of their community to Sulphur Springs.
City Manager Bill Holley said the city commission voted 5-0 to place the name change issue on the ballot. The council’s decision came during a special meeting Thursday afternoon.
Holley said the name change became a consideration after Gideon Toal, the city’s Fort Worth, Texas, economic development consultant, proposed formally changing the name of the town to Sulphur Springs.
“It’s all part of a branding package,” Holley said. “It’s looking at making an image known and using everything at your disposal to do that. Sulphur Springs is intriguing. It presents a different image. It attracts attention.”
While the name change could attract more visitors to the community, increased tourism is only part of the reason for the proposal.
“If someone is driving down the road and sees two signs — one that says Sulphur, left, and one that says Sulphur Springs, right, more people are likely to be intrigued by the name Sulphur Springs and turn right. More tourism means more business for those businesses already here and more economic development and more jobs in the future,” Holley said.
Although some residents say they’ll oppose changing Sulphur’s name, Holley said the council believes the proposal will be approved at the polls.
“We did a very small unscientific sampling. Once people understood the issue, we got a 75-percent favorable response,” Holley said.
And, changing Sulphur’s name to Sulphur Springs isn’t something new. It’s really something old.
“Sulphur Springs was the original name of the town,” Holley said.
Sulphur Springs was incorporated in 1896. The name was shortened at the turn of the century due to postal regulations. However, with the addition of ZIP codes to mailing addresses, the double name no longer hampers mail delivery.
And changing the name Sulphur to Sulphur Springs isn’t a complete switch, like the northern Carter County town of Berwyn did in 1942 when residents changed the name of their community to Gene Autry.
Marsha Miller 221-6529
marsha.miller@ardmoreite.com
