After immediate community pushback, Sen. Keith Perry amended his proposal to rename a Gainesville roadway after late singer Tom Petty.
Perry, who represents Alachua, Putnam and northern Marion County in the Florida State Senate, filed a bill Monday to rename a portion of Southwest 13th Street, otherwise known Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Highway, after the Gainesville native.
By Tuesday afternoon, after more than 30 complaints from residents, Perry’s office announced that the proposal for Tom Petty Memorial Highway would instead be set for Southwest 34th Street.
“It was a little premature,” Perry said of his original proposal. “I certainly should’ve reached out to a more diverse group of people.”
Perry said he thought of Southwest 13th Street first because residents reached out after the late singer’s death and described the roadway as significant to his music.
The section that would have been renamed stretches from West University Avenue to Southwest 16th Avenue and borders Beaty Towers, which is rumored to be the setting of the late singer’s song “American Girl.”
Petty died at 66 from cardiac arrest Oct. 2 after a lifetime career in music, making it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.
Evelyn Foxx, president of the Alachua County branch of the NAACP, said she was shocked to hear about the proposal. Foxx said she received at least 25 emails and posts on Facebook from residents of all races who were shocked by Perry’s proposal.
“It was a bad move for him to even consider something like that,” Foxx said. “It was just a bad idea.”
Perry and Foxx discussed possible amendments to the bill Tuesday afternoon.
Foxx said Sheriff Sadie Darnell, a cousin of Tom Petty, also called her expressing that she had no knowledge of Perry’s proposal.
“The emotions of the community had gotten to the point where he had no other option than to change it,” Foxx said.
Perry said filing a bill is a very early stage in the legislative process. It has to be debated and passed in the Florida Senate and House and can be amended along the way before going into effect in July 2018.
A section of West University Avenue is also being considered to memorialize Petty, if not Southwest 34th Street, he said.
Mackenzie Fowell, a UF nursing senior, said she thinks Petty should be memorialized on UF’s campus, rather than renaming a roadway. Fowell, 21, said something to honor the late singer nearby the UF Music Building would make the most sense.
“I understand why there should be something in Gainesville,” she said. “But not necessarily replacing someone else.”
