Greenville City Council members have decided against re-naming Dunbar Community Center to honor the late W.J. Longmire.

The council voiced that decision prior to the Monday night’s council meeting.

Eugene Hudson, one of the founding members of Dunbar, originally brought the proposal before the council in September.

During a November public hearing concerning the name change there was both opposition and support among members of the community.

Also, Lula Cannedy, widow of James Cannedy, asked council members to consider her husband’s name instead, calling her late husband a “true, community servant.”

McLendon said the council plans to honor both men in someway next year.

“We just decided to leave the name as Dunbar, but we will try to look at doing something for these two gentlemen who were brought to our attention,” said McLendon. “But at this time we felt that the majority of people after the public hearing wanted to leave it as Dunbar. I had several calls from people who didn’t want to come to the public hearing, but felt like it needed to stay as Dunbar. When you start changing names, you get caught between a rock and a hard place. Both Mr. Longmire and Mr. Cannedy are very deserving as it comes to having something named after them, but Dunbar will stay Dunbar.”

The Advocate was unable to reach Hudson for comment on Tuesday.

Hudson’s original proposal called for the community center to be re-named, while the park would still remain Dunbar Recreation Park.