Background/Discussion
In 2017, the City Council passed Resolution 17-195 establishing a Commemorative Renaming Policy relating to street signs.
An application has been submitted to rename segments of Avenue J and 18th Street in honor of Charles M. Wickersham.
Charles M. Wickersham (deceased) graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1961. His brother, Gale Wickersham, graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School in 1967. When the Council Bluffs Stadium, home of the school districts football, track, soccer and baseball fields, was transformed in 2017 and 2018, Gale and his wife Judy made a generous financial contribution to the project. The gift sparked many other individual, corporate and foundation donations that resulted in the grand opening of a beautiful complex that is a source of pride for our school district and community.
Charles was active in Thomas Jefferson High School activities and sports, including ROTC, football, track, wrestling, Spanish Club, and Glee Club. At Abraham Lincoln High School, Gale was involved in ROTC, Red Cross and the school newspaper. With the school district’s athletic complex named after an AL graduate, it seems fitting that the roadway to the complex bear the name of a TJ graduate, his brother Charles M. Wickersham. (Honoree significance and nexus from application)
The proposed signage will read “Charles M. Wickersham Way”.
The proposed locations for the commemorative signs are at the intersections of Avenue J and N. 16th Street and Avenue J and N. 17th Street (both eastbound and westbound locations). The other entrance into the athletic complex will include one sign at N. 18th Street and Avenue G.