By Cathy Spaulding
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The road in front of Muskogee High School won’t be named Rougher Road.
The Muskogee City Council denied a request from the Muskogee High School Class of 2010 to rename the road, but left the door open to give that name to a private road.
At its regular meeting Monday, the council voted 7-2 to deny the request to rename the frontage road, extending from York Street to Country Club Road. Council members Jackie Luckey and David Jones voted for the request.
Mayor John Tyler Hammons, a 2007 MHS graduate, said he met with the city’s emergency 911 coordinator to discuss options. Hammons said a private road extending from the stoplight in front of the high school, 3200 Shawnee Bypass and surrounding the high school could be named Rougher Road. He said the school’s street address could change to Rougher Road without affecting other businesses.
About a dozen 2010 MHS graduates attended the meeting to voice their support for the official street name change. Several expressed disappointment with the council’s decision.
Kayley Lewis, 2010 class secretary, said the road surrounding the high school “is not really a road.”
Classmate Jericha McGill said the class will meet again to decide what to do next.
“It was good that the council heard us,” said class member Emily Finney. “It’s not many times youth take a matter all the way to the city council and be heard.”
A representative for Bacone College, located just west of the high school, said the council should give part of the frontage road an honorary designation honoring Bacone College. Eugene Blankenship, Bacone’s assistant vice president for institutional advancement, said a road called Old Bacone Road, which runs through the campus, was named for an old post office, not the historic private college.
Lacey Schulz, owner of Schulz Chiropractic Health and Wellness Clinic, 2410 E. Shawnee Bypass, said it would take her at least 50 hours and cost money to change her street address to Rougher Road. Schulz said the street name change was supported by the students, not the community.
Also, City Engineer Gary Garvin said the name change also would affect residents of Dogwood Creek Retirement Center, 3230 E. Shawnee Bypass.
Attorney Ron Wright, who addressed the council on behalf of the class, said class members agreed to help residents of Dogwood Creek change their addresses.
Luckey praised the students’ effort.
“Students are part of the community; they are the future of the community,” he said.
Lewis said she was shocked that Bacone College opposed the street name change.
“We have a lot of past Roughers who attend Bacone,” she said, adding that she appreciated Luckey for “standing up for us.”
Reach Cathy Spaulding at 684-2928 or cspaulding @muskogeephoenix.com.
