Earlier this year, we noted that St. Cloud officials wanted help in naming a rebuilt bridge across the Mississippi River and had started an online poll to help find a name.
Top vote-getter in the poll: DeSoto Bridge, named for the Spanish explorer. It was also the name of the previous bridge on Hwy. 23, torn down to make way for the new one.
But the St. Cloud City Council voted Monday to call the new bridge the “Granite City Crossing,” says the St. Cloud Times.
“The process could have been better, but it is what it is,” said Bob Johnson, City Council president. “You can’t argue that granite isn’t a strong word.”
The Legislature must still pass a bill to make the name official.
Granite City Crossing? Have none of the St. Cloud City Council heard of the restaurant with the same name? When I first skimmed the headline, I had thought this bridge was sponsored, but it turns out it’s free advertising indefinitely for the restaurant chain.
Give the people what they want and name it DeSoto Bridge. That, or call it Applebee’s Crossing!