Way to honor Gim Gong took couple of detours

The citrus pioneer's name will go on Pomosa Avenue after being erased by Commerce Boulevard.

By ROBERT FARLEY, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published May 11, 2002

OLDSMAR -- Mayor Jerry Beverland's crusade to honor citrus pioneer Lue Gim Gong has landed on tiny Pomosa Avenue.

After council approval, Mayor Jerry Beverland proclaims, "Gim Gong has risen again!"

Beverland originally sought to restore the Gim Gong name to a block of Commerce Boulevard. In 1994, to Beverland's consternation, the city changed that portion of Gim Gong Road to Commerce Boulevard at a developer's request.

But Beverland's efforts were thwarted when City Manager Bruce Haddock dug out a document showing that Oldsmar officials had entered into an agreement that the name change to Commerce Boulevard was a permanent one.

Unbowed, Beverland considered naming a park after Gim Gong, then settled on Pomosa Avenue.

Pomosa Avenue runs about a 10th of a mile between Tampa and Douglas roads, next to the Freedom used-car lot, now closed for remodeling. It is just a block west of Commerce Boulevard.

"It was the next street down," Beverland said. "I would have gone street by street until I got one."

While some on the aptly-named Commerce Boulevard grumbled about the expense of changing business cards and other stationery to accommodate the name change, there are only four attached apartments on the entire stretch of Pomosa Avenue.

One resident there said he had no idea a street name change was in the works.

"That's a weird name; it's kind of funny" said Sam Haja, 24, who has been living in an apartment on Pomosa Avenue for two years.

Haja said he doesn't mind the name change, but he has no idea who Gim Gong was.

A turn-of-the-century Chinese-American, Gim Gong was hired by Oldsmar founder Ransom Eli Olds to help set up a farming community for the city in the early 1900s. Known as the "Citrus Wizard," Gim Gong developed a more cold-resistant orange and is honored in his hometown DeLand with a bronze, life-size bust.

"It's a major part of Oldsmar history," Beverland said.

The City Council unanimously approved the name change Tuesday. The street will carry both names for six months before becoming just Gim Gong Road.

"Gim Gong has risen again!" Beverland proclaimed triumphantly after the vote. "Hallelujah!"

-- Robert Farley can be reached at (727) 445-4185 or farley@sptimes.com.

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