Some city-owned facilities in Buffalo are in varying stages of getting renamed.
Broderick Park, a stop on the Underground Railroad, may become Freedom Park.
The casino at Martin Luther King Jr. Park is on the road to being named for Joyce Wilson Nixon, a community leader and community advocate, who died last month.
And there is a groundswell of support to officially name the new fieldhouse at Shoshone Park in North Buffalo in honor of Thomas M. Smith, a key adviser to Mayor Byron W. Brown.
Smith, 51, died in August. The city had already set aside about $8.5 million in American Rescue Plan funds for the construction of the indoor sports facility.
More than 100 family, friends, colleagues and people who worked for Smith packed Council Chambers on Tuesday to offer their support for naming the fieldhouse in his honor – even though the naming process has not begun. The first step is for the Council to bring forth a letter of intent to begin the process, said University Council Member Rasheed N.C. Wyatt. His district includes Shoshone Park.
There will be public hearings scheduled for people to voice their opinions.
“I’m really happy how the public came out to begin the process, and that’s the important thing,” Wyatt said. “I appreciated the people who came out to say how this person had affected the community and show their support for a legacy in the name of Mr. Thomas Smith.”
Meanwhile, the Council will hold a public hearing on Oct. 24 to get feedback on a resolution to rename Broderick Park as Freedom Park.
Located at Bird Island on the Niagara River and West…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply