Southlake's Community Recreation Center Phase I is a month from breaking ground and city council members are currently discussing possible names for the facility.

City council members met with representatives with Willow St. Agency, an advertising company, who proposed two names: "Marq" and "Freedom."

Willow St. Agency partner Jim Sykora said after surveying the community, he realized Southlake uses simple and elegant naming that is typically straight forward, which is how the company came up with those prospective names.

Phase I includes a senior/event/wedding center, community rooms, conference meeting space, amphitheater and a catering kitchen. Phase II plans include activity areas such as a fitness center, gymnasium, indoor and outdoor turf spaces, an aquatics center and a weight room.

Under the name "Marq," the amphitheater would be named "Aria," the senior/event/wedding center "Legends Hall" and the sports portion of the facility named "Champions Club."

With the second theme "Freedom," developers and Southlake Mayor John Terrell wanted to have an option that would reflect that the center would be the cornerstone of Bicentennial Park. The project will fill the open space in the southwest corner of Bicentennial Park along Southlake Boulevard and Shady Oaks Drive.

Under this choice the amphitheater would be named "Anthem," the senior/event/wedding center "Founders Hall" and the sports section "Valor Sports Club."

The "Freedom" name was met with more opposition compared to the "Marq" which was generally favored by council members.

"While I'll always be supportive of patriotic things, I don't think this branding would be a fit for the center," Councilman Randy Williamson said. "I think when people think of the park they think more of the Little League baseball team than a patriotic park."

Councilman Shahid Shafi told representatives from Willow St. Agency that he wanted to see more name options before making a final decision. The agency will meet with members again prior to groundbreaking.

Council members also looked at an updated version of the center that included a plan for additional park-style restrooms with outdoor accessibility as well as indoor accessibility, if needed. The additional restrooms tack on $400,000 to the budget. Construction on Phase I before the restrooms totaled $13.5 million of the $14.8 million budget, making the additional cost of the restrooms viable.