Sampson Center renaming request moves to committee

A request to change the name of the Sampson Recreation Center to honor a member of the community was met with slight controversy earlier this week during the Clinton City Council meeting. No decision was reached, and the matter was turned over to the city’s Naming Committee for further review.

The request came from the Rev. Thaddeus Godwin, who appeared before Council Tuesday night, asking members to name the center in honor of Shelton McCallop, who worked for the Recreation Department from 1967 to 2002 and helped many of the kids who spent their time at the center.

“A major part of many of the youth’s success can be accredited to the numerous hours and years that Mr. Shelton McCallop used to encourage and influence them by using academic, physical and personal life skills,” Godwin recited from a letter he wrote to the Council. To rename the building, he said, would be important for many, helping to secure McCallp’s legacy. “We’re just hoping and wishing that you’re listening to this because many of our children who did not have a father had a father figure in him.”

Godwin brought along with him, Dr. Bobby Lamb, one of the many people, he said, was touched by McCallop’s kindness during his time working for the recreation center.

Like Godwin, Lamb urged Council to consider the renaming request.

“I was blessed to move from New York in maybe 1973, and we moved to Boney Street, right behind the gym. I met Mr. McCallop, and he said, ‘Come on in.’ And the door was open,” Lamb told the board members. “And I came on in, and there was so many other young men, young boys and young girls — it was like a hangout place. It was like a place where you could really feel at home after doing your homework.”

Lamb said he fell in love with McCallop because he made sure there were many things that they could do.

“We could play ping-pong; we could play a little pool. Not only that, we could play basketball, and then we could see other kids come in and they might play volleyball games,” Lamb said. “It was just amazing to know how he was different from any other director. He was more of a person that was hands-on.”

Lamb said McCallop was out there with the kids and was involved at not only the Sampson Center, but also Royal Lane and Fisher Drive.

“Mr. McCallop, he is an icon. He is someone that everyone looked up to in the community,” Lamb asserted.

While riding around one night looking at different names on buildings, Lamb said it came to him that McCallop deserved to be remembered in a similar manner. He said while he driving around and looking at the names, it made him think about the people the buildings were named for, and when he saw the Sampson Recreation Center, the first person he thought of was McCallop. That kind of recognition, he said, is something McCallop deserves.

“I feel like his story… it’s time for his story to shine. And I feel like if we put his name on Sampson Center, that story would not be lost …all boys and girls would know we got a star shinning,” he said.

While Godwin and Lamb were urging the center’s renaming, another resident had different feelings.

Sherry White-Williamson spoke to the board against the name change — at least before City Council received public input on such a move.

“I respect the work that Mr. McCallop did in establishing the opportunity for young people on the McKoy Street side of town to have a place for young people to recreate,” White-Williamson stressed. “He is certainly due recognition for his work in making a place where young people could go and feel safe. My concern that I wish to express tonight is two-fold. First, as a community organizer, I feel that the people should be consulted when actions such as these are being taken. I am sure there is very few, if any, members of the community who are aware of this proposal. They should be able to speak and share their opinion about the proposed change.”

The second concern was more personal to White-Williamson, as she talked passionately about the former Sampson High School.

“With the demolition of the Sampson High School building, the gym stands as a reminder of the contributions of teachers, students and others connected to Sampson High,” she told the council.

She got choked up reliving the memories she had of her time spent at Sampson High and of the teachers who helped her, as well as the time she watched the Harlem Globe Trotters play a game of basketball in the gym.

“There’s not a lot of our history left on McKoy Street now, not with the demolition of the Sampson building. And I would hate to see just one more piece of history that has the name of Sampson High School erased from the landscape,” she asserted.

After White-Williamson spoke, and with no other audience members there to speak on the renaming, Mayor Lew Starling pointed out what the next steps might be.

“I know we have a naming policy, (but) I don’t know how that intertwines with all of this,” Starling said, noting that it might be best for the Council to do some research before moving forward with the request.

Council members opted to allow the city’s Naming Committee to review the request and see if and how it fits into the procedures the city currently has in place.