Commissioners vote to name bridge for MLK

The board approved a request to name a county-owned bridge in honor of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

WEST CHESTER >> The Chester County commissioners on Thursday accepted the request of a group of Phoenixville community leaders to rename the countyowned bridge that spans the French Creek in honor of civil rights leader The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The vote was unanimous, with each of the three commissioners speaking in favor of the move.

The idea has been circulated for several months by members of the Phoenixville Area Social Concerns Committee, a volunteer citizens’ organization founded in the 1970s to deal with questions of racial justice and community matters.

In his address to the commissioners at their work session Tuesday, former Phoenixville Mayor Leo Scoda, a committee member, noted that the borough has approximately 20 streets named after deceased United States presidents — including not only Washington and Lincoln but also lesser known lights such as Tyler, Garfield and Buchanan— and some for other famous Americans — Franklin, Sherman and Freemont — but none for the black civil rights leaders of the past.

The bridge now has no formal name — it is listed in the county bridge inventory as Bridge #185 — but is known colloquially as Main Street Bridge or Low Bridge, Scoda said.

Renaming the bridge, “would symbolize the work done by Dr. King, the idea of bringing together not only the different racial groups that make up our community but also the different economic groups and religious groups,” he said.

Also speaking were the Rev. Nathan Coleman of the Bethel Baptist Church of Phoenixville, Donald J. L. Coppedge, one of the founders of the committee, and members Ruby Armour and Rosalyn Sheck-leforth. The members were introduced by Mark Exley, the group’s president.

To put King’s name on the structure, said Coleman, “would be a powerful message and metaphor” for the borough and surrounding community.

“I believe if you can help us name this bridge after Martin Luther King it would be a positive way to help unify the community,” he said.

Coppedge, in a lively address delivered in pastoral cadence, said that the bridge that connects the borough’s north and south sides, if renamed after King, would help cement the borough’s image as “a melting pot” (where) “we can work together, live together, and worship together.”

“Preach, brother,” urged commissioners’ Chairman Terence Farrell as Coppedge spoke.

At a Phoenixville Borough Council meeting in April when the idea for renaming the bridge was first publicly announced, Coppedge said that there was a time when Phoenixville was much more segregated than it is today with the predominantly African-American community living on the north side of town. Things are different today and with council’s support, the bridge’s name change would symbolize that change.

Coleman added at the time that the project would be a wonderful contribution to the borough and would reflect the “increasing unity of the community.”

“A bridge named after Dr. Martin Luther King, whose ministry not only affected African-Americans, but affects all people,” he said, “a bridge that is named in his honor would be a symbol that will continue to bring together the community that is already here.”