WHITTIER : City Plans to Rename Street to Honor Nixon

City officials are planning to rename a short, curved access road behind City Hall after the late President Richard M. Nixon, who lived in Whittier for more than two decades.

The City Council ordered its staff last week to prepare a resolution to change the name of Civic Center Road, a 700-foot street, to Richard M. Nixon Drive. Staff had recommended renaming an out-of-the-way street in honor of Nixon to minimize the impact on residents and business owners. The name change will cost the city $200 for new street signs.

Councilman Greg Nordbak argued, however, that the city should do more to recognize Nixon. Nordbak proposed that the city also seek private funding to build a fountain or a statue to honor Nixon. Consulting engineer Norbert Vinatieri said at the council meeting that a complex of buildings next to Civic Center Road should be named Nixon Square. The council did not act on either suggestion.

Nixon lived in Whittier off and on from 1922 to 1946, graduating from Whittier High School and Whittier College. He also worked in a law firm in the city and represented Whittier and surrounding areas after being elected to the House of Representatives in 1946. He died April 22.