Young Street Bridge or Kurt Cobain's Bridge?

       On July 28, 2011, Aberdeen's City Council  voted 10-1 against renaming the North Aberdeen Bridge after the late Kurt Cobain. Many residents were opposed to renaming the bridge after Kurt Cobain because he was addicted to drugs, committed suicide and often made derogatory comments about his hometown. Instead, a small park near the Wishkah River will be named "Kurt Cobain Memorial Landing."

      An accomplished musician and songwriter, Kurt Cobain was the frontman for the grunge rock group, Nirvana. In the early 90's, 25 million copies of of Nirvana's albums were sold in the USA alone.   

      The council also voted not to make "Young Street Bridge" the official name of the North Aberdeen Bridge. For years, the bridge was called  "Young Street Bridge" after Alexander Young, a pioneer who founded Aberdeen's first sawmill. The sawmill was important because the economy of the Pacific Northwest depended heavily on the lumber industry in the 19th and 20th centuries.

      It is easy to understand why Aberdeen's city council voted not to rename the bridge after either man. Other cities have had problems when streets, bridges and other landmarks are named after heroes.When my husband was stationed at Fort Benning in the mid 90's, a problem occurred in Columbus, Georgia. Columbus' city council had voted to change the name of Thomas Jefferson Boulevard to Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard. After the street signs had been changed, the council decided that they were wrong. It isn't proper to honor one hero by disrespecting another. The council then voted to change all  "Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard" back to "Thomas Jefferson Boulevard."

      Many residents of Aberdeen believe that their city has already done enough to honor Kurt Cobain. The city's welcome sign includes the phrase, "Come as You Are," from Nirvana's Nevermind Album. A statue of an electric guitar was unveiled in a small park last April. A sign about Kurt Cobain stands in the same park.

      Yet people come from all over the world to see the bridge Kurt mentioned in his song, "Something in the Way." Tourists bring revenue. If Kurt Cobain made made negative comments about Aberdeen, he is still helping his hometown's economy by bringing in tourist dollars.

     Would naming the bridge after Kurt Cobain suggest to children that drug addiction is acceptable? Would naming a bridge after a person who committed suicide encourage others to commit suicide? Some people seem to think so. But they seem to lack compassion and to be rather judgmental. Alcoholism and drug addiction are diseases like cancer. Depression is also an illness. Would they have refused to name the bridge after Kurt Cobain if he had died of cancer?

    This Washingtonian prefers to remember Kurt for his musical genious rather than dwell his mistakes. Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh suffered from mental illness, abused absinthe and committed suicide at age 37. If we focus on Van Gogh's illness and shortcomings, we might miss the beauty of his masterpiece, "Starry Night on the Rhone."