Leon Commission: Wahnish Way won't be renamed after Althea Gibson, but sign will honor her

Leon County commissioners have decided that Wahnish Way's name will remain the same.

At Tuesday's meeting, commissioners decided they will be giving tennis great and Florida A&M University graduate Althea Gibson only an honorary designation on the road through signage despite a staff recommendation to approve the name change.

Born and raised in New York, Gibson was an 11-time Grand Slam champion who won the U.S. Nationals, as well as Wimbledon and French Open.

The board was set to approve the renaming of Wahnish Way to Althea Gibson Way. The new name was set to span the entirety of the road from FAMU Way to Bragg Drive.

This decision confused County Commissioner Bill Proctor, who said the idea came from the city.

But former U.S. Rep. Al Lawson had gone to the FAMU Board of Trustees with the original idea of the name change and suggested just doing a segment, from FAMU Way to Orange Avenue. The BOT then would go to the City of Tallahassee with the idea, which they would pass to the county.

Proctor read the note the county received, saying the city highlighted "from Bragg Memorial Stadium south to Orange Avenue," seemingly shortening the segment.

"I am completely comfortable with the language here, a section of Wahnish Way, (but) this is not what we have here, this is a complete renaming," Proctor said. He moved to rename the original segment of FAMU Way to Orange Avenue.

Barry Wilcox, director of development support and environmental management, explained that county law requires renaming "the entirety" of a street, in part to ensure timely 911 responses, for instance.

Proctor stuck by his motion and even chided staff, supposedly for going against the wishes of commissioners. Commissioner Nick Maddox offered to solve the issue through "waiving" county law, which prompted County Attorney Chasity O'Steen to step in.

"You can't get around your code," O'Steen said.

Commissioners were quick to take Proctor's side but, before the item was voted down, Maddox offered up the solution of the honorary designation. That means Wahnish's name remains the same but there will be signage honoring Gibson. It also left it open for the board to revisit the ordinance.

The motion passed unanimously with an amendment to look into naming a street in the county after former President Barack Obama, offered by Proctor – an idea that's been around since 2021.

More: Leon County pauses on renaming downtown Tallahassee street after former President Obama

USA TODAY contributed. Arianna Otero is the City Solutions Reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact her via email at AOtero@tallahassee.com or on Twitter/X: @ari_v_otero.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Leon County: Wahnish Way won't be renamed to Althea Gibson Way