The Pine Bluff Aquatic Center will be renamed to honor former Mayor Carl A. Redus, after council members approved the resolution during this week's Pine Bluff City Council meeting.
The 36,000-square-foot, $11 million facility opened for business June 29, 2019, and was a project that had been planned since 2011.
"We came together in unity across three mayors and five City Council terms. We came together with hope in our hearts that change was possible," said Mayor Shirley Washington during the grand opening of the center.
Alderman Bruce Lockett and Ivan Whitfield said one of the mayors in that group was Redus. Redus, now in his 70s, served as the Pine Bluff mayor from 2005-13. "The 2020 vision that he started 10 years ago is in motion now," said Lockett, who noted that most of Go Forward Pine Bluff initiatives stemmed from Redus' 2020 vision.
Not everyone was in favor of renaming the building after it was unanimously voted on by the Public Works Committee on Dec. 11 to send the resolution to the full council for consideration.
Alderman Win Trafford abstained when the vote was taken, saying he felt it was too early to name the building without allowing adequate time for public comment.
"It's something that should take time to make it through the community for reaction because it's everyone's building," said Trafford, who pointed out that the center was the city's most expensive building. "I wouldn't care what name we were putting on there right now. I would say it is a little too early for this to have popped out there without having plenty of public comment."
One man in the audience spoke up and said he was against the renaming, stating that the building was new and not paid for. He also did not feel that Redus was deserving of the honor.
But others were supportive of the proposal.
According to the resolution, as mayor, Redus led the successful effort to pass a city sales tax called 'A Penny for Progress' to fund numerous improvements in the city, including street repairs, improvements to city parks and recreation facilities. Townsend Park and the Regional Park ball fields were improved during his tenure as mayor.
The Fire and Emergency Service Department received new firetrucks, the Pine Bluff Police Department received new equipment, and a new animal control facility with improved care for animals was established.
Redus also played a role in improving the city sewers, drainage and flood control, and in putting the money together that paved the way for financing construction of the aquatics center.
"At the end of the day, I cannot take away what he presented to this city as the mayor," said Whitfield, who went on to say that residents of Ward 3 were proud of the support from the council members to rename the facility. "Knowing, because of his stances, there were going to be some people that disliked him-- and will continue to be."
Washington questioned Whitfield's position, stating that during the renaming of the Merrell Center, Whitfield said a decision was made that the city would not continue to name buildings after people.
"I have nothing against Mayor Redus but that was a decision made," said Washington. "They wanted to name that building the Pine Bluff Community Center. This building is already named the Pine Bluff Aquatics Center."
She also said the city had spent thousands of dollars on signs and would have to spend thousands more for new ones.
Whitfield said the Merrell Center's situation was different because officials were removing a name from a structure. "They didn't want to rename the Merrell building after someone else since they were taking a man's name off the building," explained Whitfield. "They didn't want to confuse people. They said to me, instead of naming that building after a man or a woman, they would just name it Pine Bluff."
Whitfield also addressed Trafford's remarks stating that it was appropriate for the city to name a new, expensive building after an African-American. "There's no law against that," said Whitfield. "It makes our young boys and girls realize that they can leave our community, bring something back, and still be recognized."
Lockett said he believed in giving someone their flowers while they could still smell them and believed Redus was due the honor. "A lot of things were hashed out, and this was just one of them," said Lockett. "I don't think we would do any great harm. I think it would do great benefit to the public and to those who supported Mr. Redus during his time in office."
As far as signage is concerned, Whitfield said he doesn't think it will matter if Redus' name is simply added to what is already there instead of purchasing new signs. Whitfield said he is not trying to disregard the money that has already been spent.
"We can make it work and still have the center named after the person," said Whitfield. "Nobody can't say he doesn't rightfully deserve it. We had criteria that Alderman Lockett put on the table. He met that criteria, and I think it's the right thing to do."