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Jeff Fleming, 414-286-8580
Growth in Milwaukee’s Water Industries Provide Impetus for a New Name
Mayor Tom Barrett announced Monday that the City of Milwaukee is soliciting suggestions for a new name for the street that will run through the redeveloped Reed Street Yards. A consensus has emerged that the existing name, Pittsburgh Avenue, is not ideal for a business park featuring water technology businesses that will be unique to Milwaukee.
The Mayor’s announcement coincided with the groundbreaking of the Milwaukee Water Council’s global water center at the corner of Third Street and, yes, Pittsburgh Avenue.
“With all due respect to the City of Pittsburgh, I’m hoping we will find a different name that matches the vision for this neighborhood. We are counting on some great street name suggestions to match the great ambitions for this building and this neighborhood,” Mayor Barrett said.
The City has established a website, http://www.milwaukee.gov/nameastreet, to collect the suggestions. The website outlines some of the street name restrictions including length (a street name cannot exceed thirteen characters), nor can a name be too similar to that of an existing street.
Proposed alternatives to the name Pittsburgh Avenue will be collected through September 14, 2012. The official process of renaming a city street includes review by the Citizen Advisory Committee on the Naming of Public Buildings, Facilities and Streets and approval from the Milwaukee Common Council.
Milwaukee’s Reed Street Yards span a vacant parcel along South Sixth Street, just south of the canal between the Harley Davidson Museum and the Iron Horse Hotel. The City anticipates investing between five and six million dollars in infrastructure, including streets and a RiverWalk, and environmental remediation. The goal is to create an urban water research and technology park that attracts new jobs and investment to the City.
