05/03/02

The unnamed bridge to Homewood High School soon will have a familiar moniker.

Homewood officials plan Saturday to name the vehicular and pedestrian bridge that crosses Shades Creek after Olympic skater John Zimmerman.

The Homewood native, teamed with Kyoko Ina, took fifth place in pairs figure skating at this year's Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Zimmerman will be grand marshal Saturday for Homewood's annual "We Love Homewood Day" parade.

The dedication ceremony for the John Zimmerman IV Bridge will take place at 4:30 p.m. in Homewood Park, shortly after Mayor Barry McCulley presents his Quality of Life award to Zimmerman and his family.

The Homewood City Council took weeks to determine an adequate way to honor Zimmerman, who graduated from Homewood High in 1992.

The council first considered renaming Bridge Lane, which travels through Homewood Park. That proposal fell through after members wondered whether they should change the name of a street before major renovations begin in the park.

The second option was renaming University Park Drive, which curls up to Homewood High.

Council members, however, got bogged down during a Monday committee meeting over whether they should wait until the Homewood Board of Education had given an opinion, or whether the street signs, which are spiffier along Lakeshore Drive, would cost more than the standard white letters on green background. Other council members questioned whether renaming a street could be done before or shortly after the Saturday festival.

All of which led an exasperated Police Chief Charles Trucks to offer a suggestion from the audience.

"Name the bridge," Trucks said.

The idea took root, especially since a bridge dedication would not require a huge bureaucratic hurdle, unlike renaming a street, which involves considerations such as changing postal addresses.

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