THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 1, 1994 TAG: 9409010714
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 41 lines
Pernell ``Sweetpea'' Whitaker will never forget where he came from.
That's because as of Sept. 10, Whitaker and the street he grew up on will share the same name.
The city of Norfolk has decided to rename Cumberland Street, the boyhood home of the world welterweight boxing champion, Whitaker Lane. Whitaker now lives in Virginia Beach, but he has been effusive in his promotion and praise of Norfolk throughout his amateur and professional career.
Whitaker has brought the city renown by fighting frequently at home, which he will do again Oct. 1 at Scope against James ``Buddy'' McGirt.
So now Whitaker will be immortalized with a two-block stretch of pavement that runs between Nicholson Street and Olney Road. The street runs smack through the Young Terrace housing project, in which Whitaker was raised.
``I'm really surprised by it,'' Whitaker said. ``It's a great feeling. Everyone doesn't get a street named after them. It's the most prestigious honor I've gotten.''
The City Council will officially adopt an ordinance changing the street's name at Tuesday's meeting, assistant city manager George Crawley said. The street will be dedicated Whitaker Lane in a ceremony Sept. 10 that will follow an 11 a.m. Whitaker sparring session at the Young Terrace Rec Center, where he boxed as a youth.
Mayor Paul Fraim said the idea to rename the street was vice mayor Paul Riddick's.
``There's sort of a common-held belief in this city that we haven't done enough to recognize Sweetpea,'' Fraim said. ILLUSTRATION: Map
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