Sidney Crosby Parkway campaign gains steam

Sidney Crosby's former hockey and baseball coach never expected his idea of changing the name of Forest Hills Parkway in Cole Harbour, N.S., to Sidney Crosby Parkway would gain so much momentum. Paul Mason simply wanted something visible to honour Cole Harbour's most famous citizen.

With Crosby winning his second Stanley Cup on Sunday night, Mason mused on Facebook that naming a street after #87 would be appropriate. His idea resonated with a lot of people.

"We were hoping something might happen and spark interest but it's grown pretty quickly," Mason said.

Municipal hurdles

Almost all of the feedback he's receiving has been positive — except for the hurdle of city rules that specify that in order to rename a street, the person needs to be retired or at the end of a grand career.

At Tuesday's regional council meeting, Lorelei Nicoll, the councillor for Cole Harbour-Westphal, requested a change. "I'm planning to put a motion on the floor today for council to make an amendment to that policy," said Nicoll.

Certainly Mayor Mike Savage is all for honouring the Penguins captain, "I think it's worth considering, we should do something for sure," Savage said on his way into council.

Changing policy

Coun. Gloria McCluskey has an avenue in Burnside named after her — all former mayors do.

"You didn't have to be dead or retired. If you were a mayor, you had a street named," said McCluskey. 

McCluskey thinks the policy should be amended,  "I think we could change that policy in a heartbeat."

Good news for Mason 

Hearing that HRM politicians are keen to move the street name policy forward is good news for Paul Mason. That doesn't mean he's free of roadblocks. He needs to poll businesses on the street to see if they are keen and there is a $2,000 payment.

"I'm not a real bureaucratic person and I'm not a big fan of doing all that; but if that's what I have to do I guess once it gets started, got to get it done," said Mason.

After all, Crosby's long list of accomplishments from Stanley Cup wins, to world championships and Olympic Gold have brought a lot of pride to his Cole Harbour community.