MELBOURNE, Fla. – Across America, city and county officials have designated roads for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in blighted, crime-ridden parts of town -- attaching an “unfortunate stigma” to those streets, Melbourne City Councilman Tim Thomas asserts.
“As a result, when one mentions renaming a road after Dr. King, the mental pictures that emerge are of boarded-up buildings, crime-infested neighborhoods and declining property values,” Thomas said during the May 14 City Council meeting.
Since 1987, Melbourne merchants and landowners have echoed similar fears. And in turn, City Council has rejected renaming University Boulevard, Apollo Boulevard, Airport Boulevard and other streets for the slain civil rights leader for the past 32 years, News 6 partner Florida Today reported.
That may change. Tuesday, led by Thomas, council members will vote on renaming Airport Boulevard in King's memory and officials expect hundreds of people to attend.
"We have the chance to actually set the conditions of success by renaming a major arterial road in Melbourne in an area of town that represents inclusion and diversity," Thomas said on May 14.
What's more, council members will also consider naming the future police department headquarters, slated for construction at the northeast corner of NASA Boulevard and Airport Boulevard, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Law Enforcement Center.
Melbourne officials have moved Tuesday's meeting to the Wakefield Ballroom at Hilton Melbourne Rialto Place, 200 Rialto Place. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., and the meeting starts at 6:30.
When City Council selected Airport Boulevard for consideration on May 14, attendance exceeded capacity of the City Hall Council Chamber. The room can accommodate 215 people.
The Hilton Melbourne Rialto Place ballroom can accommodate up to 500 people.
Back in 2006, City Council rejected Airport Boulevard twice. In addition to potential negative stigma, business owners cited costs of changing letterheads, business cards, advertising materials, brochures and so forth.
But demonstrators supporting the King renaming marched, chanted and sang during rallies outside City Hall. Hundreds of supporters and opponents packed emotionally charged meetings -- and dueling petition drives generated more than 2,500 signatures.
“I can vividly remember the past efforts to rename and/or name a street in his legacy -- the backlash and uproar of citizens against that effort was overwhelming," James Minus, president of the South Brevard NAACP and husband of Councilwoman Yvonne Minus, wrote in a March email to council members.
"Our streets had the constant visual of Confederate flags hoisted on the back of pickup trucks and the noise of the harsh racial slurs that rang out in the streets of south Melbourne,” Minus wrote.
Tuesday night, council members will first vote on a resolution to name the police department in King's honor. That resolution would immediately take effect.
Next, council members will consider first reading of an ordinance to rename Airport Boulevard. The ordinance states that renaming the street would provide "a long-lasting and permanent testament to Dr. King’s commitment to civil rights, equality and peace."
If approved, a second, final reading to adopt the Airport Boulevard ordinance will occur July 9.
Airport Boulevard extends for 1.7 miles between U.S. 192 and Apollo Boulevard, leading past Orlando Melbourne International Airport.
This roadway has 41 abutting properties with 22 active business tax receipts. Most of these businesses are located along the southern third of Airport Boulevard, between Hibiscus Boulevard and U.S. 192. The estimated cost for new road signage at 13 intersections is $7,425.
By comparison, Hibiscus Boulevard has 126 active business tax receipts. A number of Hibiscus Boulevard businesses and residents contacted City Hall in April, asking that their road name remain unchanged.
In 2005, a nine-member Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Naming Opportunities Committee researched renaming various streets for five months. Airport Boulevard was the No. 1 choice, topping three other finalists: Babcock Street, Hibiscus Boulevard and the Melbourne Auditorium.
However, the City Council rejected Airport Boulevard in January 2006 and April 2006.
On May 14, the City Council voted 6-1 to choose Airport Boulevard for another renaming attempt. Thomas had resurrected the topic, citing 32 years of failed attempts.
“The minutes of those meetings don’t depict or describe the emotional letdown and disappointment felt by the African-American community after being turned away with no action each of the five times it was brought before the Melbourne City Council,” Thomas said during discussion.
Airport Boulevard renaming supporters at that meeting included Space Coast Progressive Alliance president Phil Stasik; Ashley Routh, of Push Back Community Alliance; the Rev. Lorenzo Laws, of Greater Allen Chapel AME Church; former mayoral candidate Hazel Buggs; the Rev. Craig and the Rev.Dionne Hammond, of First United Methodist Church of Melbourne; and Joseph McNeil, of Concerned Citizens Committee of South Brevard.
Mayor Kathy Meehan cast the lone "no" vote, citing the impact of changing addresses on affected businesses.
“I don’t want to see Airport Boulevard changed. That wasn’t named after an individual, but it’s an identifier to the Orlando Melbourne International Airport. And that street leads thousands of people to our airport,” she said.
Instead, Meehan supported locally designating U.S. 1/Harbor City Boulevard in King's honor, a move that would require Florida Legislature approval. In 2014, the legislature designated Fiske Boulevard within Cocoa city limits as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Highway.
In an email to City Hall, Melbourne resident Greg Wood opposed the Airport Boulevard proposal.
"Does every city or town think they MUST name something after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.? I think he was a great man but renaming Airport Blvd. is likely one of the dumbest things I've heard in the 60 years that I have lived here," Wood wrote.
"Airport Blvd. is the road to the airport and is named appropriately. Renaming that road is the last street that should be chosen as it is informative and directs traffic to the airport," Wood wrote.
"Mayor Kathy Meehan appears to be the only common sense member of the City Council," he wrote.
In November, Melbourne voters approved up to $35 million in bonds to build a new consolidated police headquarters. Expected to open in 2021, this facility will replace today's aging Apollo Boulevard headquarters and the Communications and Criminal Investigations Division on Babcock Street.
Councilman Paul Alfrey, who worked as a Melbourne K-9 officer from 2000-12, proposed naming the new police station for King.
“It would signal a change, from a time where law enforcement was used to intimidate and punish him, to acknowledgement and honor of his monumental achievements in this nation,” Alfrey said on May 14.
During a ceremony Saturday, Melbourne artist Christopher Maslow unveiled a two-wall mural featuring King inside the Daily Bread reception area. The Fee Avenue soup kitchen dishes out more than 200 free daily hot meals to the homeless and working poor.
The mural depicts a destitute man holding a cardboard sign that reads, "Seeking love and acceptance," four interlocked hands of different races and a praying Mother Mary of God.
"The purpose of the mural at the Daily Bread is to evoke feelings of love, compassion, and safety. I want those that see it to feel empowered and inspired by the portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King and his quoted words, 'The time is always right to do what is right,'" Maslow said.
Merton Clark, the founding pastor of Truth Revealed Ministries of Palm Bay, said the community buried seven young black males last year who were murder victims -- and he wants a major arterial named for King.
“I would like to take 100 black males to the street and point to the sign and say, ‘This street was named after a man that you never met. But there is something about him that you need to know,'" Clark said during the May 14 meeting.
"And as you ingratiate yourself with him -- and begin to seek the knowledge, get a good sense of self -- we won’t have to bury any more black males in our society,” Clark said.
King renaming history
A recap of significant Melbourne City Council actions:
•August 1987: University Boulevard rejected.
• February 1991: Portion of University Boulevard (between Babcock Street and Riverview Drive) rejected.
• January 1994: Portion of University Boulevard (east of Babcock Street), Lipscomb Street, the new library or Melbourne Auditorium rejected.
• October 2001: Resolution sent to Brevard Metropolitan Planning Organization supporting naming the future Palm Bay parkway for King. Instead, the road was later named the St. Johns Heritage Parkway.
• April 2005: Apollo Boulevard rejected.
• January 2006: Airport Boulevard, a city committee's No. 1-ranked candidate, rejected.
• April 2006: Airport Boulevard rejected again.
• May 2006: Melbourne Auditorium rejected.