EAST PROVIDENCE — Seeing it as a means of correcting the historical record, the East Providence City Council, at its Tuesday, July 18, meeting, unanimously voted to once again call the 10.0-acre park situated between the historic Looff Carousel and Providence River as "Crescent Park."

The item was placed on the agenda by Ward 4 Councilor Rick Lawson, in whose district the Charles I.D. Looff Carousel and the now former Rose Larisa Memorial Park are located.

The ride and the land were the focal points of a heated battle some 40 years ago between the city, which wanted to sell the property to developers, and a core group of committed Riverside residents who became known as the "Carousel Five."

Dr. Richard Lund, Gail Durfee, Linda McEntee, Jobelle Tracy Aguiar and Robin Peacock were at the forefront of a three-year legal fight to keep the historic ride and land in the public realm, going so far as to use personal property as collateral.

Rose Larisa was among several other city residents who supported the effort, but not among the lead litigants.

However, as a member of the City Council in 2002 her son, Joe Larisa, proposed naming the parkland in honor of his mother. The move had limited support in the community and was opposed by most of the key players involved in preserving the site, but was still approved by the body.

"Hey, I'm a son. I love my mom, too, but there was more than one person who fought to save that park," Lawson said in proposing his resolution last Tuesday.

He continued, "It should be Crescent Park. Historically, it's been Crescent Park. So this is my way of utilizing my position to correct, in my opinion, a wrong and bring back the history of this area as Crescent Park."

Called the "Coney Island of New England" during its time, Crescent Park as an amusement park and tourist destination existed for 93 years before it closed in 1979.

Situated on prime coastal real estate, much of the old park site on the Bullocks Cove side was gobbled up by developers and turned into mostly single-family homes. The 10 acres across Bullocks Point Avenue was likely to face a similar fate if not for the tenacity of the "Carousel Five."

Two years after the Council voted to rename the location for Rose Larisa, a group of supporters paid for a plaque, put into place on June 12, 2004, to be situated near the carousel entrance recognizing the achievements of the "Five."

"There is a plaque that was put up two years after the park was renamed after the councilman's mom and it sits on top of a rock as you're going into the carousel. And if you don't know it's there, you wouldn't recognize it," Lawson said.

The plaque reads, "This plaque is dedicated in recognition of the efforts of the following individuals who were instrumental in saving and preserving the Charles I.D. Looff Carousel for the enjoyment of future generations...Gail Durfee, Jobelle Tracy Aguiar, Linda McEntee, Robin Peacock, Richard Lund."

Prior to the vote, McEntee offered up her thoughts, saying although Rose Larisa worked very hard on the matter, many other people did as much or more.

She continued, "The name Crescent Park cannot be replaced...Why single out one person when it was many people?," later adding of the existing honor recognizing her efforts and that of the "Five," "The plaque is more than enough."

Kristen Lund, daughter of lead plaintiff Dr. Richard Lund, read letters with the thoughts of Aguiar, who noted, "All five litigants believe it should remain as Crescent Park."

She also read from correspondence of Arlene Violet, the attorney for the "Carousel Five," who wrote, "None of them were wealthy...they had to put their money where their mouth was."

After reading the remarks of Violet into the record, Lund added her own thoughts on the name change, saying, "That pretty much says it all. Richard Lund et al (referring to the lawsuit name)...I don't think we're trying to re-write history, we're just trying to correct it."

In follow-up remarks, her sister, Kara Lund, said renaming the location back to Crescent Park, as the "Five" all wished, would have a "healing affect" for all involved. She also noted, saving the carousel and the land "did not happen without enormous risk, grit and perservance over many years."

Kara Lund added, "The Carousel Five didn't do it for themselves. They did it for the larger community. With all due respect to Rose Larisa, to give credence to the sentiment of one or two people to honor his mother's name versus the community wide disagreement and contention over the park's naming since 2002 flies in the face of the people who actually signed their names to the lawsuit, putting their homes up for collateral, who took the real risks throughout they process and stuck it out to the end, no matter what."