[img]2283|right|Jeff Cooper||no_popup[/img]“My biggest concern is the cost,” says City Councilman Jeff Cooper of the preliminary proposal to change the name of Washington Place to Louis Armstrong Street.
“Obviously first, since part of Washington Place is in Los Angeles, the city of L.A. would have to be on board for me to even consider it,” said Mr. Cooper.
“Then I am concerned about costs, not only to the city for the labor and time to replace all of the signage, but to all of the small mom-and-pop businesses up and down Washington Place.
“Potentially, such a change could be very expensive to them to make updates and numerous other changes,” the Councilman said.
He talked about the germination of the name-change idea.
“The reality is that this whole issue was born out of Nelson Mandela dying and the city honoring him,” Mr. Cooper said. “It wasn’t so much to rename Washington Place.”
Mayor Meghan Sahli-Wells, who introduced the prospect of a name-change at Monday evening’s City Council meeting needed support from two more persons to keep alive the idea for a future discussion.
Mr. Cooper raised his hand. “I suppose I looked at the idea from a marketing perspective tat would give Washington Boulevard some uniqueness, being named after such an iconic figure,” he said.
“Louis Armstrong has a direct Culver City connection (he lived and worked here). A name-change almost could be a draw to bring people into the area.”
