Georgie Woods was respected as a Philadelphia businessman and advocate for civil rights. He was a staple on the city’s radio airwaves, was a consultant for Dick Clark, and helped to elect Wilson Goode as the city’s first African-American mayor in 1984.
So it seems only natural that people around the city, and even some members of City Council, want to remember Woods, who died in 2005. The idea, according to a NewsWorks story, is to rename a city-owned Fairmount Park summer concert venue the Georgie Woods Entertainment Center at the Robin Hood Dell.
But city regulations say no city property can be named in someone’s honor until they have been dead for 10 years – meaning the venue will remain just the Robin Hood Dell until at least 2015.
Do we really need to wait three more years to realize what impact Woods had on Philadelphia, and how important he was in promoting equal rights? I don’t think so. But wait, we must, until 2015.
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