Following a long period of discussions and protests by community activists, the Hollywood Commission has agreed to rename three streets named after Confederate leaders at a final vote at the November 15th Commission meeting.
Some of the protests became heated and a number of people were arrested at the meeting.
All members of the commission voted in favor of the change except for Commissioner Peter Hernandez, who abstained from voting.
The street names which will be changed are Forrest Street and Forrest Drive which will become Freedom Street and Freedom Drive, Hood Street which will become Hope Street and Lee Street which will soon be known as Liberty Street.
Benjamin Israel, the community activist who has long led the effort to change the street signs, thanked the commissioners for their decision.
Next the City Engineer will begin to notify appropriate agencies of the name changes and will procure services to replace the street signs. The scope typically will allow the vendor to take possession of the signs to be replaced as scrap metal.
City Engineer’s staff will then obtain Broward County Traffic Engineering Division’s approval of the sign standards. Residents and businesses will be notified through Notify Me alerts, New Horizon article, notices to relevant Homeowner/Civic Associations, and the news media.
