BERLIN – Commerce Street will also be known as Tindley Way following a decision by town officials this week.
On Monday, the council approved adding a “Tindley Way” sign above the existing Commerce Street sign. The new moniker pays homage to the Rev. Dr. Charles Albert Tindley, who is featured on the mural on Commerce Street.
“We are not proposing to rename Commerce Street,” Councilman Dean Burrell said. “Commerce Street will still be Commerce Street but the Tindley Way sign will be added.”
The council approved the addition of the Tindley Way sign on Monday after members of the Berlin Beautification Committee shared plans for the space formerly occupied by two Bradford pear trees in front of the parking lot on Commerce Street. The trees, which were in poor condition, were removed so that passersby would have a better view of the Tindley mural now adorning the Bruder Hill building.
“It’s left a hole in that area,” said Ivy Wells, the town’s economic and community development director. “A triangular hole. What we’d like to do is create a pocket park there.”
Committee member Georgiana McElroy said the plan was to create a simple garden with resilient, non-invasive plants.
“Our focus is to plant things that are resilient, that are not invasive, that are pollinators, that are very easy to maintain,” she said.
The Commerce Street garden will feature black-eyed Susans, red salvia, switchgrass and other noninvasive plants. McElroy said the committee would repurpose the existing river rock that was in the space to fill in the points of the triangular space.
Town staff noted that the first part of the project would be running electricity underneath the garden area so that it will be available for an electric vehicle charging station being planned for the parking lot. Eventually, Victorian streetlamps could be added to the lot as well.
Mayor Zack Tyndall said what had been proposed by the committee was probably the first step in a tiered project that could eventually include streetscape improvements along Commerce Street. If the town is able to get a grant, improvements could include the undergrounding of utilities, new sidewalks and new Victorian streetlights.
“We’ve been talking about this for a couple years with the previous town administration,” Wells said.
She said the town needed to get its information together in the coming months so that it would be ready to apply for the relevant grant when the time was right.
“We need to have all of our ducks in a row,” she said.
The council voted unanimously to approve the addition of Tindley Way signage to Commerce Street.
