But to me, there is a lot to like about a proposal for Nebraska Avenue to share an honorary title with famed musician Ray Charles.
Jack Harris, co-host of AM Tampa Bay on WFLA-AM 970, is pushing the proposal to honor the musician, who spent three years in Tampa during the mid 1940s after leaving the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind in St. Augustine.
The future legend was a 16-year-old piano player eking out a living playing with any band that would hire him, at clubs such as the Manhattan Casino in St. Petersburg and the Blue Room and the Cotton Club in Tampa.
In 1990, the University of South Florida awarded Charles an honorary doctorate in fine arts.
Now before you say Harris is just a radio guy, remember that the idea of renaming the Crosstown Expressway for Bucs hall of famer Lee Roy Selmon first took root on his morning drive show.
And the timing for honoring Charles couldn't be better. He died June 10, and Ray, a Charles biopic drawing critical praise, premieres Friday. Harris proposes an honor similar to the one given to Tribune sports columnist Tom McEwen several years ago. The portion of Tampa Bay Boulevard south of Raymond James Stadium has commemorative signs bearing the name Tom McEwen Boulevard underneath the conventional green and white signs that say Tampa Bay Boulevard.
The City Council is creating a process for such honorariums and will vote on the new methods when it meets Thursday.
But what if we took that proposal a step further by completely renaming at least a portion of Nebraska Avenue?
The Florida Department of Transportation has a $10-million project in the works to repave Nebraska Avenue between Kennedy and Hillsborough avenues. In conjunction with the city, DOT also will change the street from four lanes to two lanes and install landscaped medians, bicycle lanes and bus stops.
The idea is to give the street more of a community feel and calm traffic. You also have to hope the measures would be an important step in cleaning up some of the more nefarious activities on Nebraska Avenue.
Another step, albeit esoteric, would be a name change. The negative connotations associated with the avenue are at least 30 years old. As a child growing up in Tallahassee, I learned of its reputation before I ever visited Tampa.
Even today, some people believe you would have to be blind to want that street named after you.
But visions of Nebraska Avenue prostitution and crime already have been blurred by a concerted effort between police and community activists. Why not extend the renewal with a change that would instill pride and celebrate the city's connection to fame? That has to be better than holding on to the past represented by the words "Nebraska Avenue."
Of course, no change would be made without consulting the community and businesses along the thoroughfare. Because Nebraska Avenue is a state road, a change also would require legislative approval.
Finally, several members of Charles' family, including his daughter, Evelyn, still live in Tampa, and it seems only right to get an endorsement from them.
But with the DOT's renovations not set to begin until 2006, there is time to clear the hurdles.
The idea has a ways to go, but let's start the dialogue and see where it goes, even if it moves toward honoring someone else. We're talking about making Nebraska Avenue more beautiful, and the strains of Charles' America the Beautiful is a perfect theme.
After all, he did perform his stirring rendition of that song at Tampa's 2001 Super Bowl.
