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Road name change pits future against past

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By Dave Greber, Staff Writer 10:31 PM Monday, March 15, 2010

HAMILTON — The 47-year-old name of Knightsbridge Drive should be changed to represent an industrial and economic shift that embraces technology and future, rather than paper mills and past, according to a request submitted to City Council last month.

Dr. Daniel Hall, dean of Miami University Hamilton, says Knightsbridge Drive should be changed to Technology Drive. Residents of the street say otherwise.

A final decision — if Hall’s request proceeds along its normal course — is still likely months away, but even the idea has not been well received among the street’s inhabitants thus far. That’s unfortunate, some said, because enterprises like Miami University Hamilton and Vora Technology Park are an important part of marketing the city into the next generation.

In a way, those seeking the name change want to repeat history for the sake of the future.

“The Knightsbridge street name represents a bygone era and a corporation that no longer occupies the building or property for which the street is named,” Hall wrote in the Feb. 11 letter to council. “... I asked that you consider renaming Knightsbridge to better and more accurately label the area and to support the efforts of VTP to make Hamilton a more attractive location for technology businesses.”

Hall could not be reached for further comment.

The Knightsbridge name hails from the days of Champion paper and its trademark — a knight — according to local historian, educator and former JournalNews Editor Jim Blount’s account of the company’s history.

The city renamed South Avenue to Knightsbridge Drive on Oct. 17, 1962, as a way to honor Champion’s decision to house its headquarters in Hamilton.

It’s now home to 37 houses and eight businesses, including Harrison Elementary and the Richard Allen Academy.

The name change could potentially increase property values in the area, making the street attractive to future businesses looking to relocate, said Vora Technology Park CEO Mahendra Vora. Still, he said he wouldn’t be crushed if the city passed on the request.

“We’re talking Facebook here. We’re talking Twitter. This is technology, and we’re underselling what we have here in Hamilton,” Vora said. “We are proud of our steel and paper heritage, but we don’t want to be pegged to that.

“People don’t know the state of technology that is happening here,” he added. “The world is changing. So should Hamilton.”

But some residents of Knightsbridge — some who have lived there for decades — aren’t ready for that change.

“This is a nice neighborhood, and they want to mess it up with the change?” said Marlan Turpin, who’s lived in her house at 351 Knightsbridge for more than 40 years. “For one person or for one company? No.”

Rosa Childs, who moved to Knightsbridge more than 30 years ago, said she’d “just have to go with the flow,” if the request moved forward.

“You’d have to go through a lot of (address) changes,” she said. “I’d just rather them leave it like it is. It has a history.”

Hamilton City Council voted 5-1 last week to accept Hall’s request, with Archie Johnson casting the lone dissenting vote and Robert Brown absent.

The request now moves on to the Planning Commission, which could consider it during their second meeting in April at the earliest. If it passes muster there, the request is sent to the Board of Revisions and Assessments — which has no regularly scheduled meetings — to determine the economic feasibility of the change. If both entities approve, the request moves back to City Council for a public hearing, and finally a vote. That could push any decision back until at least later this spring.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2112 or dgreber@coxohio.com.

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