Honoring King an idea whose time has come

Showing extraordinary patience and persistence, civil rights leaders in Spokane may soon savor the taste of success that has eluded their two-decade campaign to name a street after Martin Luther King Jr. As a bonus, they would also see an associated structure named after King’s wife, Coretta.

So, though the wait has been long, it has not been futile.

The route that has been proposed for the honor of bearing King’s name is the yet-to-be-built extension of Riverside Avenue from Division to Trent. It would become Martin Luther King Jr. Way, and a proposed pedestrian bridge would be named Coretta Scott King Memorial Bridge.

The Spokane Plan Commission examined the proposal this week. It still must go through a public comment period and, ultimately, be approved by the City Council. If valid obstacles justify denying this application, it is hard to see what they might be.

Various suggestions have been made over the years to rename other public rights-of-way after King, but they have involved existing streets where residents and businesses would have had to contend with changing their signs, their business cards and stationery. Issues involving postal and parcel delivery and emergency vehicle responses would have had to be resolved.

To many, those costs and inconveniences were a reasonable sacrifice, considering the high principles represented by the proposed gesture. But to others, they were tangible, and therefore a distraction when unity was wanted.

But the route now under consideration boasts positive qualities, and not just because a fresh street avoids those old concerns about the impact on stationery and commercial signage.

For one, it will be a heavily traveled corridor past Spokane’s developing University District, reminding young and old of King’s respect for education and his dream of future generations unburdened by racial tension.

Located near the city core, it will be well used and often seen. It will be a familiar reference point and will make a community value statement to those who live here as well as those who come from elsewhere to work, to relax or to visit friends and families.

Hundreds of cities around the nation have taken this step. It’s time for Spokane to join the list.

As the Rev. Happy Watkins, one of the advocates, said this week, “We had to wait for the right time and the right moment.” We hope the public comment period produces a chorus of affirmation that this is, indeed, the right moment.