BRADENTON — A small group of residents gathered in front of the Bradenton City Hall building on Old Main at 2 p.m. Thursday to protest the city’s approval on Wednesday to name the new Riverwalk amphitheater after the Mosaic Company Foundation.

The Mosaic Company is a world producer and marketer of concentrated phosphate and potash. Mosaic has a mining operation near Duette in Manatee County.

“This was an unquestionably bad decision,” said Carol Pelletier. “Why not name it after one of our war heros, or long-time citizens?”

The residents said their major objections were what they termed a “quick decision” to give Mosaic naming rights in exchange for a $95,000 grant and what they perceived as a disconnect between the name of a waterfront attraction and a company that they feel is destructive to the environment.

“This is like someone naming a beach after BP,” said Bradenton mayorial candidate Richard O’Brien, whose comment received the protest’s largest applause from the crowd.

O’Brien, whose supporters numbered nearly half of the crowd of about 10, also said a waterfront attraction should not be named “after the largest polluter in the state.”