Capitol One Randall Pool. Chevron Recreation Center at Marie Reed. Purina® ALPO® S Street Dog Park. Sounds foolish, right? Maybe, but under a provision of the 2012 D.C. budget passed on a first vote by the D.C. Council, branded parks, pools and recreation centers may soon be a reality.

Buried in the 209-page-long Budget Support Act, the provision would allow the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation to “contract for, pursuant to all applicable contracting and procurement guidelines, advertisements and sponsorship for recreation centers, fields, pools, and play courts within the Department’s inventory.” In short, a company could brand an entire complex, buy naming rights for a park bench or buy ads to be placed alongside a field, court or pool.

The provision would also allow for the establishment of “friends groups” — organizations of residents willing to help maintain their local parks and recreation centers, be it by maintaining them or raising funds to help improve them. Additionally, fees gathered from developers seeking exemptions from zoning laws will go towards parks and recreation centers located in the ANC where the development is to take place.

None of the ideas are new — each was introduced separately earlier this year, though neither moved through the Council — and they all seek to find new sources of revenue to maintain the District’s parks, pools, fields and recreation centers. Money is tight these days, and DPR hasn’t been spared the axe — its 2012 budget allocation fell 15 percent relative to the $37.5 million it received in 2011.

Of course, what’s to stop Marlboro or Budweiser from slapping their names on D.C. parks and recreation centers? The way the provision is written, not much. The mayor is given the authority to write rules governing the purchase or ads or sponsorship agreements, though, and an original version of the law sponsored by Councilmember Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4) limited ads to those “promoting healthy lifestyles” — so tobacco, alcohol and political ads likely won’t be making it into local parks, pools, fields, and recreation centers. (Though such companies certainly could give it the old college try.)

It’s not just DPR getting into the ad game — a separate provision of the budget would allow the D.C. Department of Transportation to slap ads on Capital Bikeshare stations and on multispace parking meter receipts.