A residential street in Richmond named after the Confederate State of America could soon get a new name.
Richmond City Council’s Land Use, Housing and Transportation Committee voted Tuesday to move forward with renaming Confederate Avenue to Laburnum Park Boulevard. The name comes from the small neighborhood where the street sits in Richmond’s northside. The three-member committee forwarded the name change to the full city council with a recommendation to approve.
Council Member and mayoral candidate Kim Gray, who is co-sponsoring the ordinance along with Council Vice President Chris Hilbert, praised the residents living on the street for kick starting the process of renaming.
“This is a longstanding effort on the part of residents along Confederate Avenue and adjacent areas to ensure that the street names are reflective of the diverse communities within the area,” she said. “We’ve been walking through the process, it’s a long time coming and we support their efforts.”
Confederate Avenue is a four-block, residential street, bordered by Brook and Hermitage Roads. The street’s most famous current resident is Democratic Senator Tim Kaine. City officials put out a survey to homeowners in June and say 85 percent of respondents agreed with the renaming.
Jill Dimitri, a homeowner on Confederate Avenue who spoke at Tuesday’s meeting, said she and her neighbors landed on supporting Laburnum Park Boulevard out of a list of 33 proposed names.
“I feel like Richmond is certainly at a crossroads right now and the neighborhood is united in this interest to change the name of the street,” she said.
Dimitri said the list of possible names came from conversations with other residents.
The proposed renaming is expected to receive a final vote at the November 9 Richmond City Council meeting.