North Texas City Selling Naming Rights For Public Amenities To Support Local Businesses
KELLER, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Ever wanted to name a local park, playground or even a tree after yourself? A North Texas city is now giving you the opportunity to do just that.
The city of Keller is selling temporary naming rights to amenities for everything from trees to entire buildings to raise money for a COVID-19 loan program for local businesses.
Part of the city's "Beyond the Mask" campaign, the loans of up to $5,000 would be forgivable as long as the business stays open for a year after receiving the money.
The naming rights for sale start at $100 for bricks that will go into a project in the Old Town section of the city next year. You can get a temporary placard on a bike rack for $1,000. Dog waste bag stations are priced at $1,500. The entire Bear Creek Park can be renamed for you for $20,000.
There have been a few early commitments for naming trees and benches, according to JoAnn Malone from the Greater Keller Chamber, who is helping develop the program with the city's COVID-19 task force.
On Wednesday, she received a commitment from the developers of a new Hampton Inn in the city scheduled to open next month for $2,500 -- enough to name a water fountain or hand sanitizer station.
Matt Matthews with Matthews Commercial said his company would be naming a tree or parking spot. He was also helping reach out to potential donors for the effort.
"A lot of people want to support, and have reached out before this started, asking how they can support," he said.
The goal is to get to $300,000. The city already committed $100,00 toward that.
Just about any business in the city would be eligible to apply, as long as they can show they were impacted by the pandemic.
"I think the paperwork is going to be less of a hassle," Malone said. "The criteria is you're in the city limits and you're in good standing. We're not doing credit checks and things like that."
Last month the chamber helped support local restaurants, covering part of the bill for customers who ordered food to-go. That turned $13,000 into more than $60,000 in sales for those businesses, Malone said.
The naming rights money will be paid to the Golden Triangle Rotary Club, in order to make the donations tax deductible.
