Street renaming gets initial city council approval

Though some were braced for disappointment, the 50 Central High School student senators who crowded the city council chamber Monday night scored a point for their school mascot.

They proposed to change the name of the road leading to their school from Silver Springs Road to Tiger Pride Drive, and forged a compromise that passed the council pending the approval of the school's neighbors.

The students agreed to forgo a change to the entire road for a renaming of the roadway within their campus or a special mail stop. Those changes would affect the postal service -- something the council will consult adjacent property owners about.

It would also make the school's letterhead obsolete, a problem that principal Mike Cowan said he is happy to deal with.

Students Catherine Moreton, a junior, and Edgar Palacios, a senior, officially proposed the name change to the council and argued several points. Among them, that the council's approval would prove that the students can have input in their community. Some council members were concerned that the name change would set an unwelcome precedent, but Mayor Jay Knudtson was argued in favor.

"Could it set a precedent?" he asked. "Absolutely. Will it create confusion? Maybe. But if another group of students comes in wearing their colors like this, we just might have to listen to them."

Bearing in mind the negative comments that some council members made in a newspaper article on Monday, senior Candace London was surprised at the decision.

"After reading the article in the paper I think we all thought we would face more hurdles, but I think it went really well," London said.

rgoodier@semissourian.com

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