When the Columbia School District Board of Trustees meets Tuesday, an afternoon of celebrations is planned.
The public is invited to the unveiling of a new street sign replacing the sign on Bryan Avenue at 4:30 p.m. and then to tour the renovations of the Herrington Band Hall and Crystelle Ford Auditorium at Columbia High School at 5 p.m. before the Board’s regular monthly meeting in the CHS Library at 5:30 p.m., according to Superintendent Jason Harris. The additions and renovations were paid for by the taxpayers of the Columbia School District as part of the bond issue passed in 2016.
Back in September, the Columbia Board of Aldermen voted to change the name of Bryan Avenue to Wildcat Way in honor of the school mascot.
Ordinance 516, signed on Sept. 19, declared Bryan Avenue, a one-way street running north from the intersection of Broad Street to Church Street, to be known as Wildcat Way. There are no private properties on Bryan Avenue; therefore the name change affects only the Columbia School District’s office complex, Columbia High School and the adjoining parking lots.
The ordinance was drafted at the request of Mayor Justin McKenzie and the Board of Aldermen as a way to recognize the importance of the Columbia School District to the city. The designation will not only take place in signage, but in E911 records, plats and maps.
The ordinance and name change officially took effect 30 days after signing. Tuesday’s dedication will officially change the signage on the street.
