Cloverdale is getting another commemorative street name.
After 175A Street was given the honorary name “Guru Nanak Village Way” in 2022, now a road on the Cloverdale Fairgrounds is to honour Will Senger, a longtime member of the Cloverdale Rodeo and Exhibition Association.
According to a City of Surrey corporate report, a proposal was made to add the title of “Will Senger Way” to 177B Street, between 62nd and 64th Avenues.
City council passed Corporate Report R064 at their regular meeting April 8 approving the honorary street name.
The report, submitted by Engineering Department GM Scott Neuman and Planning & Development Department GM Don Luymes recommended council direct city staffers to get the ball rolling on implementing the “actions requested” by the Cloverdale Rodeo and Exhibition Association, as they spearheaded the proposal, and to also direct city staffers to install the signage on 177B Street.
“The purpose of this report is to advise Council of the request from the Cloverdale Rodeo and Exhibition Association for the commemorative street naming of 177B Street between 62nd Avenue and 64th Avenue,” noted Luymes and Neuman.
Will Senger was a prominent member of the Rodeo Association for more than 50 years, having started out as a volunteer in the ’50s. He passed away in 2017.
Over his many years with the Association, Senger wore many hats, including being director of the Association and Cloverdale Rodeo Chairman.
“As a result of his dedication to the (Rodeo Association), he was awarded the Governor General’s Medal in 1992 for Dedication to Rodeo in Canada,” wrote Luymes and Neuman.
The Rodeo Association requested the honorary street name be added to the Cloverdale landscape to “honour” Senger’s legacy.
The Cloverdale Rodeo and Exhibition Association runs the Cloverdale Rodeo & Country Fair, held every year on the May long weekend on the Cloverdale Fairgrounds.
“There are several categories of people, places, and events that can be recognized through a commemorative street name, including a historical figure or individual that has had a significant positive influence on Surrey or contributed outstanding civic service to the City, excluding a living person,” Luymes and Neuman’s noted.
According to the report, the Rodeo Association request met all City of Surrey policies and the Engineering Department’s requirements for the street to honour Senger.
“The official name of the road would remain 177B Street and would be used for addressing and all documentation, including business licensing, permits, and fire alarm monitoring,” Luymes and Neuman explained. “Commemorative street signs are integrated with the official street name signs placed on intersection corners only (no overhead signs are allowed).”
The special street signs (see proposed image above) will be installed on the corner of 62nd Avenue and 177B Street, on 62A Avenue and 177B Street, and on 64th Avenue and 177B Street.
City policy notes that whomever makes the request for a commemorative sign must pay for both the initial signs and their installation, but any ongoing maintenance costs are borne by the city.
“The signs could be installed immediately, prior to the 2024 Cloverdale Rodeo & Exhibition,” the pair added in the report.
Luymes and Neuman also noted the Cloverdale Rodeo and Exhibition Association has requested info on Senger be included on a storyboard with the history of the Cloverdale Rodeo, although they acknowledged the request did not fall in the purview of Corporate Report R064.
Back in November, the Surrey Heritage Advisory Commission discussed a possible storyboard for Senger, one that would better illustrate the context for his contributions to rodeo over the years.
SHAC carried the following motion back then: “That the Surrey Heritage Advisory Commission recommended that Council allocate up to $7,500 from the Unrestricted Reserve to install a storyboard that includes acknowledgement of Will Senger’s community contributions on the Rodeo Grounds.”