Published Tuesday, August 18, 2009 6:05 AM

CS approves resolution clarifying namesake of George Bush Drive

By CASSIE SMITH
cassie.smith@theeagle.com

Just in case there was confusion, College Station city leaders on Monday decreed that George Bush Drive is indeed named after the 41st president.

No street signs or addresses will be changed, but the City Council unanimously passed the resolution described as a "naming clarification."

The city doesn't want anyone thinking George Bush Drive has anything to do with the most recent Bush to hold presidential office, so they went on record to point out that the major road between Texas Avenue (technically, it goes on to Harvey Road) and F.M. 2818 is indeed named after George Herbert Walker Bush, not George W. Bush, the 43rd president.

Councilman John Crompton, who asked for the resolution a year ago, said Monday he was concerned that decades from now residents might not know which Bush the street was named after. He cites Kyle Field -- home to Aggie football -- as a case of mistaken identity, saying sometimes people list the wrong Kyle as its namesake since there were two associated with A&M about the same time in the early 1900s.

Forget that a major difference is College Station is not home to Kyle library and museum where Kyle's legacy is preserved by the National Archives on Kyle Drive.

Bush's library and museum officially opened 12 years ago just off the road with his name on it, and he, along with his wife, Barbara, are somewhat regulars about town even though they live in Houston.

It was well documented back in 1989 that the City Council renamed Jersey Street to George Bush Drive -- an act to honor then-president Bush as a symbol of community support to secure the presidential library be built in College Station. Other cities, such as New Haven, Conn., -- home to Bush's alma mater, Yale University -- were vying for the library at the time, and naming a major roadway was part of the package to lure him here.

No word as to whether a resolution is needed to clarify the namesake of Barbara Bush Drive, as it reflects the names of George W. Bush's mother and oldest twin daughter.

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