St James a bigger issue
St James a bigger issue
March 26, 2009
Section: Opinion
Tim Allen’s letter regarding the possibility of renaming St James Park Kerryn McCann Oval raises some interesting points, and goes to the heart of a matter that has seen us receive a steady stream of letters from both sides of the fence for weeks on end.
What we have here after it all boils down is a question about how we identify with our local area and our country, and how much room there is for change in those things so tightly wound up with how we see ourselves and our own personal histories.
I would suggest that the arguments over St James Park are a microcosm of a much larger argument playing out at the moment in the collective conscious of Australia about how we define who we are.
We are at a point in history where our collective identity is under pressure.
It’s been said that Australia’s identity was forged through war, but the World Wars are a long way behind us now, and while we can draw pride from the courage, hardiness and cheeky spirit our country has shown under fire, it’s not enough anymore to define us completely.
What the citizens of Coledale (and Australia) have to work out together, is firstly what their history says about who they are, and secondly what they want their future to say about who they are.
Will Coledale lose some of its connection with its own past if St James Park is renamed?
Will Coledale feel any connection to its community at all if all the place names hark back to a time most people know little about?
Should we be preserving as much of our limited history as possible, or doing away with antiquated names?
