HAGERSTOWN
Concerns of veterans upset over a recent street naming appear to have been laid to rest by a City Council vote Tuesday.
In its last official vote of the four-year term, the council voted 5-0 in favor of rededicating Memorial Boulevard in honor of war veterans.
The move was the eventual outcome of a failed attempt by city officials to honor baseball great Willie Mays somewhere in the city.
The flap over the use of Mays' name stirred racial tensions, raised tempers and might have played a part in the outcome of last week's elections.
One veteran said Wednesday he was pleased with Tuesday's council action.
"That's great. I think it's about time that they finally cleared up all the questions," Anthony Pruchniewski said Wednesday. Pruchniewski, a Vietnam War veteran, is vice president of the Joint Veterans Council of Washington County.
Pruchniewski's group gave its approval after being consulted earlier this month on the plan to place a monument along Memorial Boulevard. The monument officially would tie the street's name to honoring war veterans, despite some dispute over the street name's original purpose.
When Mays visited the city last August, Mayor William M. Breichner publicly apologized to the Hall-of-Famer for the way he was treated in 1950, the last time Mays had come to town.
Mays, who is black, was forced to stay in a separate hotel from his white teammates, and faced racial jeers from the stands when he took the field.
Breichner also made an offer to Mays to name a street after him. Breichner said later that it was a gesture to try to bring Mays back again, but veterans felt snubbed. Shortly after the proposal came up in February, veterans began voicing their opposition.
Breichner, a Korean War veteran, said city documents from the mid-1930s showed no direct link between the street's name and veterans. Councilwoman Penny M. Nigh cited research that said newspaper accounts at the time showed there was a link.
In April, Councilman Lewis C. Metzner, backed by the council, then forwarded a different plan - to name the field at Municipal Stadium after Mays, also a Korean War veteran. But Metzner withdrew that plan after what he called "deafening" silence from community leaders who he hoped would have offered support.
At the city's May 3 meeting, the council took up the plan to rededicate Memorial Boulevard and asked Nigh to meet with the Joint Veterans Council.
Nigh said Wednesday that Tuesday's vote "settles knowing that Memorial Boulevard was, in fact, named for veterans. The memorial is there. The memorial will be there. It is there for the veterans."
Ronald Hovis, a Korean War veteran who was opposed to putting Mays' name on the street, said he was glad the city took the action it did.
"I am very, very pleased. It's a long time coming and I'm glad it's gonna be done," Hovis said.
The rededication is set to take place on Veterans Day in November.
Councilwoman-elect Alesia D. Parson, believed to be the first black to hold office in Hagerstown, said during her campaign that she believed the city should still honor Mays. She did not return phone calls Wednesday.
Nigh, however, said she didn't know if the council would look into the matter again, and that it is up to the mayor and the city administrator to set the agenda.
"There's a lot of big issues in this city that we need to move forward," Nigh said.
