Tom Petty’s hometown Gainesville has named a park after him to celebrate his legendary songwriting.
The late singer-songwriter passed October 2017. To celebrate his contribution to music, his local town in Florida has named the park he grew up in ‘Tom Petty Park’ in his honor.
The naming ceremony took place Saturday night (October 20) which would have been Petty’s 68th birthday. His brother and his daughter gave heartfelt speeches to fans and shared their favorite memories of Tom.
Bruce Petty said that he spent a lot of time in the park with his brother as children: “We played as kids. My cousin reminded me the other day of my remark that it was a sanctuary, and it really was,” he said. “It was a place for us to escape and be kids and have fun. The fact that we are doing this today and the part that we played in it makes it so much more special.”
Petty’s daughter, Adria Petty, added: “Gainesville is an extraordinary place and if you listen to my dad’s music here, it has a different meaning,” she said. “The idea of the air smelling good and the trees are green — there is nothing like this park to really illustrate that. ‘Gainesville’ has been blasting in my head since I landed… It’s a very important town to Florida.
She continued: “Florida is a really beautiful and complex state and (Gainesville) fosters a lot of intelligence and compassion and incredible manners and incredible decency.”
You can watch the ceremony here:
