by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
City Council member Jim Overton introduced an ordinance at Tuesday night’s Council meeting that would assure the new main library and county courthouse receive generic names.
Overton’s bill, which will have to clear the Council Rules Committee before a vote in front of the full Council, seeks to have the new $95 million downtown library called “The Jacksonville Public Library” and the new $190 million courthouse called the “Duval County Courthouse.”
Both projects are components of Mayor John Delaney’s $2.2 billion Better Jacksonville Plan, which also includes a $25 million baseball park, a $125 million arena and $1.5 billion in road resurfacing and infrastructure projects.
The logic in the nondescript names, Overton says, is based on the fact that both facilities will be public buildings funded by public money and shouldn’t be named after any particular individual.
“I feel strongly that the main library and courthouse ought to be generic,” said Overton. “The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is not named after someone. These are public buildings and shouldn’t be named after someone.”
The downtown library is currently named after former Florida governor Haydon Burns. While Overton isn’t sure that was an appropriate decision in the 1960s, he has no problem with having a terminal at the port named after former mayor Ed Austin, despite the fact that Austin is still alive.
“I think that’s OK,” said Overton of the Ed Austin Terminal. “That’s not the only terminal at the port; it’s one of three or four.”
City Council vice president Suzanne Jenkins said she wasn’t sure how she’d vote on the bill if and when it comes before the full Council, but wouldn’t be opposed to naming either facility after a deceased local political or community leader.
“Sometimes there are people who go before us that did good things and it may be something we’d like to do,” said Jenkins, although no one in particular came to mind. “I can see both sides of the issue. I have no real dogs in this hunt.”
The mayor’s office is aware of Overton’s bill and plans to address the situation in the very near future.
“The mayor has asked me to raise the issue of Councilman Overton’s bill with the library board on Thursday [today],” said Audrey Moran, Delaney’s chief of staff. “We also plan to sit down with Councilman Overton and see where his head is at. There has been talk of naming the facilities or rooms in the facilities after someone. It’s thought provoking and there will be more discussion on the matter.”
Recent speculation has centered on possibly naming the new downtown library after former City administrator Lex Hester, who died in October 2000. Neither Overton nor Jenkins said they had heard anything about such a push, but Jenkins said she wouldn’t oppose such a decision.
“I think he [Hester] did a lot of good for the city and he was a key player in consolidation,” said Jenkins. “The mayor has told me he was the go-to guy on the Better Jacksonville Plan. He was the one who said it would work.
“I think that’s something I’d like to have discussed.”
Overton said he was not aware of any discussion centering on Hester and the new library.
“I haven’t heard that,” mused Overton. “That would be an interesting decision to make.”
Still, Overton doesn’t agree with tagging either facility with a specific name, dead or alive.
“I think any time you name the one building after one person, it’s a bit of an error,” said Overton. “Those are public buildings and they are funded by the public. The courthouse represents the seat of justice in this area. It’s not one of several seats, but the one seat.”
Overton drafted the ordinance shortly after a recent City Council meeting. The topic of what to name the buildings, combined with the fact that both are scheduled to be completed within the next four years, prompted Overton to propose legislation that assures the facilities are generically named.
“Of all the new buildings in town, these are the two that shouldn’t have someone’s name attached to them,” said Overton.
However, Overton is not opposed to naming any of the new or renovated branch libraries after individuals, especially if they had major impacts on their respective communities. He thinks the same way about city parks, especially if they are established by or improved through an endowment from a individual or an individual’s estate.