Stan Musial (Photo: Bleeding Yankee Blue)Missouri’s House of Representatives have reached a compromise to end the debate with Illinois about the name of the new bridge over the Mississippi River–and Stan the Man is part of the solution.
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the House on Monday passed a bill (HB303) that will name the Missouri half of the bridge after Cardinals great Stan Musial. Missouri Governor Jay Nixon still needs to sign the bill for it to take effect. It is not dependent upon the Illinois Legislature.
Missouri and Illinois previously disagreed on the name of the new bridge. Missouri wanted to name it after Musial. However, Illinois was pushing for “Veterans’ Memorial Bridge,” and the state last week passed a resolution to name it just that.
There is no word yet on how Illinois will react to Missouri’s new legislation.
“Our hope is that Illinois will follow suit,” said Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO), who sponsored the bill. “But at this point, we weren’t sure. So at the minimum, we have the Missouri side.”
Other provisions in the legislation include naming the highway approach to the bridge after Andy Gammon, a worker who died during construction of the bridge; renaming several other highways; and designating the Missouri portion of the Poplar Street Bridge over the Mississippi River as the Congressman William L. Clay Sr., bridge.
