Should Annadel State Park in Santa Rosa be renamed for Henry Trione?

The California State Park and Recreation Commission, meeting Friday in Santa Rosa, is expected to rule on a request to rename Annadel State Park to reflect the contributions of the late Henry Trione, well-known business leader and philanthropist who is credited with the park’s creation.

Under the proposal, the park would officially be known as “Trione Annadel State Park.” Advocates of the name change say it would give Trione proper due for his efforts establishing the 5,000-acre park in the 1970s. Trione died in 2015 at the age of 94.

Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, officially introduced the idea of changing Annadel’s name as a tribute shortly after Trione died.

However, changing the names of state parks is an infrequent practice, occurring only twice in the past 13 years. Commission policy states that name changes are to be “strongly discouraged.”

Other park guidelines state that a person must be deceased for at least five years before consideration is given to naming a site for that person.

The guidelines specifically reference a “non-historic or new park facility.”

The site of what became Annadel was being eyed for residential development when Trione secured an option on the property. A World War II veteran who settled in Santa Rosa and established a mortgage business, Trione ponied up $1 million of his own money as part of the land deal.

In 2012, Trione pitched in another $100,000 to keep the park running under county administration at a time when Annadel and dozens of parks statewide were threatened with closure because of a budget crisis.

Trione eschewed drawing attention to himself for his largess, which also included the preservation of what is now the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts and the founding of Empire College.

But family members said prior to his death Trione expressed the desire to have his name attached to Annadel, which he considered his crowning achievement.

At Annadel this week, several park-goers expressed support for recognizing Trione in the park’s formal name.

“If he did that much for the park, it’s good to give him credit,” said Daniel Maxwell of Sebastopol, who was heading out for a mountain bike ride in the park.

His riding companion, Quincy Zlotnick, agreed, but said for practical purposes he’d still refer to the park as Annadel even with the name change.

“Luther Burbank Center was still be Luther Burbank Center even when it was owned by Wells Fargo (Bank),” Zlotnick said.

Said Ricardo Alerez of Sonoma, “You can name it whatever you want. It’s a really cool park.”

However, a few people expressed opposition to the name change in correspondence sent to the parks commission.

One unidentified writer complained that Trione Annadel State Park “doesn’t roll off the tongue” and argued that changing park signs, letterhead, websites and other identifying monikers would be a “monumental, unnecessary, costly, and very time-consuming task.”

Both the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors and the city of Santa Rosa have formally endorsed the name change.

The state Senate also approved Sen. Mike McGuire’s resolution seeking the change. The cost to make and install new signs at the park would be covered by private funding.

McGuire said he could not predict how park commissioners will vote, but he noted there is precedence for changing park names.

“We’ve done significant due diligence on this on the front end,” the Healdsburg Democrat said.

“I think we have a very compelling case based on Mr. Trione’s legacy of giving back to the community to bring this proposal forward.”

Whether that’s enough to sway state parks commissioners remains to be seen. The group is meeting at 9 a.m. Friday at the Flamingo Conference Resort and Spa.

The California Arts Council in 2007 asked the State Parks Department to rename a trail in Annadel after Trione. The request was denied on the grounds that park features are not named after living people.

Annadel is named for Susana “Annie” Hutchinson, whose family owned the area in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, according to state archives.

The Annadel property was acquired by State Parks in 1971. The name “Annadel” is a combination of “Annie” and “dell.” “Annie’s Dell” was also an earlier name given to a railway station located on the property.

You can reach Staff Writer Derek Moore at 707-521-5336 or derek.moore@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @deadlinederek.