The Long Beach Performing Arts Center could soon be named after Beverly O’Neill, who served as mayor for 12 years until 2006.
Mayor Robert Garcia and Councilwoman Cindy Allen, whose district includes the performing arts center, added the renaming recommendation to the council’s Feb. 16 meeting agenda. The full council could send it to the city’s Government and Elections Oversight Committee, which is in charge of naming decisions.
“Beverly O’Neill has done more to uplift many forms of art than any other elected official in our City. I look forward to honoring her generous contributions of time, talent, and personal will to our entire community through this well-deserved renaming,” said Allen, who was appointed as the vice-chair of that committee last week.
O’Neill already has her name affixed to a portion of the performing arts complex. In 2015 the council voted to amend its policy of naming city buildings after people only once they had died, which allowed the Center Theater to be renamed the Beverly O’Neill Theater.
O’Neill turned 90 in August.
If the request is approved by the committee and full council, the performing arts center would become the Beverly O’Neill Arts Center.
Connor Lock, Allen’s chief of staff, said it remains to be seen if the renaming would impact the already named O’Neill Theater. It could simply mean that there would be a Beverly O’Neill Theater at the Beverly O’Neill Arts Center, Lock said.
Allen’s request for the renaming is cosponsored by councilmembers Al Austin and Suzie Price. Garcia, who co-authored the request, echoed remarks made in a letter signed by over 30 elected officials, civic leaders and members of an ad hoc community committee, which praised O’Neill’s work as mayor to expand the city’s arts and culture community.
“Mayor O’Neill’s legacy with the arts is unmatched,” Garcia said. “She’s dedicated her life to our city and this naming and dedication is a perfect way to recognize her work.”