MURFREESBORO – The president of Chowan University has submitted a request to the Murfreesboro Town Council to have the names of two local streets changed.

Murfreesboro Town Administrator Molly Eubank confirmed that her office had received a letter from the university requesting the name changes and the matter was brought before the council at their meeting on May 23.

&uot;The request was for two streets to be renamed, but one of the streets does not fall within the jurisdiction of the city,&uot; Eubank explained. &uot;That change would have to be authorized by the county.&uot;

In a letter signed by University president Dr. M Christopher White, the school requested that Chowan College Road be changed to Chowan University Road and College Street be changed to University Drive.

College Street is the only request that falls within the Murfreesboro city limits.

College Street runs directly into the main entrance of the University and connects Main and High Streets.

Assistant to the President John A. Hinton attended the council meeting as a representative of Chowan University.

In a telephone interview on Wednesday, Hinton explained that after the University’s Board of Trustees confirmed the change of the institution’s name from Chowan College to Chowan University, a transitional committee was formed to address the issue of changing several local landmarks and street signs to correspond with the institutions new identity.

&uot;We have addressed several highway and street signs that still have the name Chowan College,&uot; Hinton said &uot;The next order of business is probably the water tower.&uot;

The water tower Hinton is speaking of is visible from the 158-258 bypass, and reads &uot;Murfreesboro: Home of Chowan College&uot;

The letter submitted by the university stated that an attempt had been made to get verbal approval from the property owners that would be affected by the name change and that so far all residents have been supportive.

There are currently five private homes facing College Street.

One resident however, says that no one had spoken to her.

Helen Peoples has lived on College Street for seven years. She says that although she was not aware of the proposed name change, she doesn’t have a problem with it.

&uot;As long as I can get my mail, I don’t have any opposition to the change,&uot; Peoples said in an interview at her home Tuesday afternoon &uot;I guess I should attend more city council meetings. This is the first time I’ve heard about it.&uot;

Murfreesboro Mayor Lynn Johnson is a member of the transitional committee tasked with the seeking the name changes.

Eubank said the issue would be presented in a second reading at the next city council meeting and she did not expect any obstacles in getting approval for the change.

In other Murfreesboro City Council news;

The council agreed to adopt 2005 – 2006 budget amendment number four.

Three local businesses were awarded grants by the Murfreesboro Beautification Committee to improve or upgrade their facilities.

Blue Front Shoppes, Southern Health and Wellness Center and Barnes House Bed & Breakfast were each awarded grants in the amount of $250 to be used to enhance their locations.

The grants were the first of their kind to be awarded by the city.