City plans to name boulevard for MLK

Honorary title would cover parts of Harden Street, Farrow Road

By ADAM BEAM – abeam@thestate.com

Columbia officials want to designate a stretch of Farrow Road and a stretch of Harden Street to honor Martin Luther King Jr.

The designation, which would cost the city about $20,000 for street signs and memorial plaques, would be honorary only and would not require anyone to change their address, said Chip Land, Columbia’s planning director.

They would be the first Martin Luther King Jr. streets in Columbia, which has a park named after the civil rights leader.

There’s also a Martin Luther King Boulevard in Hopkins.

Columbia officials plan to announce the designation at the city’s annual Martin Luther King Day celebration, which has been delayed a week until Jan. 26 so it won’t conflict with President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration.

“Every capital city in America, or most of them, have a street name designation after the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” said City Councilman E.W. Cromartie “We want to make sure that we would honor that.”

Hundreds of cities across the country have named streets after the civil rights leader. Last year, at least two national media organizations highlighted how most of the streets that bear King’s name are in poor, high crime areas.

Columbia’s designation would be no different, as the Farrow Road/Harden Street corridor is one of the poorest in the city, according to PolicyMap, a demographic mapping service.

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This article by Adam Beam on The State on Wednesday December 24, 2008.