The naming of the new Bloomfield sports stadium after local footie stalwart, all-round knockabout Aussie and long-time mayor, the late John Davis OAM, was popular. But is it time another former elected official got a guernsey before the facility opens early next year?

While Davis and another former mayor, Jason Hamling – a committed Manly Sea Eagles supporter, alas! – are often viewed as the initial drivers of the project nearly a decade ago, the elected official who pushed through the proposal against strong local opposition to its proposed Bloomfield location was our first popularly-elected head, Reg Kidd.

Following recent announcement of deluxe lumination for the facility being approved by council, is it time for the long-time Emus Rugby Club stalwart's name to go up in lights?

With $2 million funding for the broadcast-standard 1400 lux lighting given the go-ahead at council's July 7 meeting, naming of towers after our long-time local community servant might be a fitting tribute to the lifelong sports buff.

Speaking recently to a number of current councillors on the idea, Orange City Life received a mixed response, with many suggesting other community figures could be considered for any grandstand, canteen, change rooms, entry gates, or spectator hill naming proposals.

"I'm not a great fan of naming things after people; there are a lot of other issues with the stadium we have to sort out first," Cr Steve Peterson opined.

"I haven't given it a lot of thought and it hasn't come up at council; maybe changerooms or something like that, if someone approached us with a proposal," he added.

Although Geographical Names Board rules about generally not naming roads, highways and bridges after living people do not apply to sports stadia, he said this might be another objection to the former Cr Kidd getting the nod.

"Reg is still very much alive, and I don't know that council would want to go down that route at this stage," Cr Peterson said.

"I don't know enough to comment, but I'm sure naming proposals for other parts of the stadia will pop up closer to the opening," he concluded.

Cr Kevin Duffy – a long-time colleague of the former Cr Kidd – said the two-term mayor deserves some recognition for his efforts in pushing through the proposal against environmental groups seeking to maintain the area as dedicated green space.

"I'm not fussed about any of the names used for facilities, but I do think he needs to get a guernsey somewhere with the stadium," Cr Duffy said.

"I'm not bothered either way; I'd have to see what they thought would be a good proposal; I suppose I'd think about a bar?" he added.

Initially a strong supporter, but no longer an enthusiast for how the stadium has developed, he said naming honours were way down his list of concerns.

"In the end it's not going to be a magnificent stadium, in fact it will be very similar to Apex Oval in Mudgee or Carrington Park in Bathurst, though our lights will be a lot better… they could have just upgraded Wade Park for a lot less," Cr Duffy said.

"We wanted something state-of-the-art, and it's not exactly going to be that, before I voted on anything to do with naming honours, I'd have a chat with Reg," he concluded.

Jeff Whitton, another former colleague of Cr Kidd and current local rep, said the proposal went back a long time before Cr Kidd was mayor, to when the first idea was for the facility to be constructed on a vacant paddock in North Orange.

"The entire concept was that of John Davis and Jason Hamling; they were the guys who initiated the plan to set aside some land as part of the second stage of the northern distributor," Cr Whitton recalled.

"They were the two major drivers who said Orange should have its own rectangular field; it was in Reg's time that council decided to look at the old Ex-Services Golf Course at Bloomfield as an alternative," he added.

Rather than pot-luck proposals from individuals approaching council over naming features at the stadium, he'd like to see a committee put together to look at naming individual features of the facility after local sports administrators.

"What the ratepayers really want is the facility up-and-running; as far as naming honours go, I think it should go back to the community to decide on local sporting people who have a lot of success," Cr Whitton said.

"Reg was a councillor for 31 years and a player and administrator for Emus, so there is that, but I would like to look at not just the traditional men's sports; we could also look at pioneers in emerging women's soccer and the rugby codes," he concluded.

Also supporting a more formalised approach to any naming decisions for the new stadium, Cr Gerald Power said naming the facility after Mr Davis – who died in October 2023 – was very popular at the time.

"I was deputy mayor in 2024 when we decided to name the stadium after John Davis, and it was a unanimous decision," Cr Power revealed.

"But no other suggestions have been made so far; I'd certainly look at naming the light towers or other facilities after Reg, if it was put to us," he added.

He agreed, though, with Cr Whitton that any other naming suggestions for the stadium should be via a formalised process with sporting community input.

"That would be the process to go through with options put out there for long-time sporting administrators, players, and coaches to be in the mix," Cr Power said.

"Rather than just asking, 'why don't we name a toilet after so-and-so?' it should be about community ownership, with public comment sought on any suggestions before we make a decision," he concluded.