Crystal Street Becomes Gothard

The City Council has renamed Crystal Street, now Gothard Street, as part of a recent street realignment project that did away with a troublesome five-way intersection.

Gothard Street has been aligned with Crystal Street, eliminating the five-way intersection of Gothard and Main Streets and Garfield Avenue that had produced inefficient traffic flow and slowed emergency responses to the area.

Officials preferred the name change to lessen confusion and because Gothard Street is a major artery in the city. A future proposal calls for Gothard Street to intersect with Main Street just south of Clay Avenue.

Property and business owners along the old Crystal Street, which stretched from south of Ernest Avenue to Clay Avenue, supported the change.

In other business, the city council selected Shirley S. Dettloff, 62, as the city’s new mayor. Dettloff, who was elected to the council in 1994, was the mayor pro tem this year. Council member Peter M. Green was selected as the council’s mayor pro tem. Both offices rotate annually.