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May 12, 2008

Public buildings named for both living and dead

Should the state be naming buildings after Rhode Islanders who haven’t yet breathed their last?

The critical question of above ground or below took on a life of its own on the House floor last week, with Majority Leader Robert Watson, R-East Greenwich, hardly able to keep a straight face as he argued against naming the new Kent County Court House after former Gov. Philip W. Noel, who is very much alive.

It wasn’t personal, he said. “I certainly believe there is a building in this state, possibly even this building that should be named after Governor Noel.”

But only in Rhode Island would it seem normal to name buildings after those who may visit or, more bizarre, work in them.

Rep. John Patrick Shanley Jr., D-South Kingstown, pointed out that however strange, the living monument is a bit of wacky tradition here. A courthouse, the airport terminal and a variety of other buildings all post names of live bodies.

At the University of Rhode Island alone, three buildings have been named after the living: former Gov. J. Joseph Garrahy has a residence hall named in his honor, as does the Wiley family, of which several members are still living. And just two or three weeks ago, the Assembly voted to name Independence Hall after retiring Provost Beverly Swan, who, Shanley says thankfully, is expected to be “breathing with [him]” when the building is dedicated this week.

So perhaps it should come as no surprise that the Assembly voted overwhelmingly to keep the Philip Noel Judicial Complex proposal, well, alive.

-- By Cynthia Needham and Scott MacKay

Journal staff writers

Posted by Pam Cotter  at 9:19 AM | Permalink

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