JEFFERSON CITY • Two state senators say they have a way to put to an end to the controversy over what to name the new Mississippi River bridge between Missouri and Illinois.
Call it the Stan Musial Memorial Bridge.
Bills introduced Tuesday by Sens. John Lamping, R-Ladue, and Eric Schmitt, R-Glendale, propose that the span bear the name of the Cardinals legend, who died Saturday at his home in Ladue.
“It’s logical,” Lamping said in an interview. “Most Missourians are Cardinals fans.”
But not only would the Missouri Legislature have to approve the name; so would the Illinois Legislature.
That shouldn’t be a problem, Lamping said. Musial, who was known for his gentlemanly, down-to-earth ways, had broad appeal.
“He’s the kind of person that fits the Midwest well,” Lamping said.
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Given the controversies swirling around some of today’s sports figures, “there’s a lot we can all learn from Stan the Man,” Schmitt said on the Senate floor.
Two years ago, legislators debated but couldn’t agree on what to name the Interstate 70 bridge.
The House voted to name it after two Democratic politicians — the “Jerry F. Costello-William ‘Bill’ Clay Sr. Veterans Memorial Bridge.” As congressmen, Costello and Clay Sr. helped secure funding for the span.
But that name didn’t fly in the Missouri Senate.
“The last thing we want to do is have the thing named after a politician,” Lamping said today.
In 2011, Lamping had the novel idea of calling it the Cards-Cubs Bridge if you were crossing from Missouri to Illinois and the Cubs-Cards Bridge if you were coming from the east.
But his alternate plan got started too late in the session and the bill died. The topic didn’t even resurface last year.
Lamping’s and Schmitt’s new proposals are expected to be referred to the Senate Transportation Committee, which will hold hearings before voting on whether to forward the proposal to the full Senate.
If passed by the Senate, the bill would move to the House. That chamber also paid tribute today to Musial, with personal stories and a standing ovation.
“Stan was one of the very best baseball players in history, but even more he was one of the good guys,” said state Rep. Rick Stream, R-Kirkwood.
Stream told the chamber of the three times he met Musial.
“He was the same charming and caring individual every time,” he said.
House Speaker Tim Jones told of own experience meeting Musial when Jones was 15.
“What a true gentleman,” Jones said from the speaker’s dais.
The bills are SB176 and SB192.
Elizabeth Crisp of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
Virginia Young is the Jefferson City bureau chief of the Post-Dispatch. Follow her on twitter at @virginiayoung.
