Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin is pushing to rename the CrossPlex after the late Larry Langford, who was convicted on 60 federal counts in 2009.
As reported by The Birmingham Times, Woodfin said “it’s fitting for all the work he did” that Langford be honored in a major, permanent way by the city.
Langford, a Democrat, served as both mayor of Birmingham and Fairfield, as well as a Jefferson County commissioner. It was through his role on the county commission that he was indicted on 101 federal counts in 2008. The next year, he was convicted on 60 charges, including bribery and fraud, and sentenced to 15 years in prison. He passed away in January shortly after receiving a compassionate release.
Now, a push has begun to rename the CrossPlex as “The Larry P. Langford Birmingham CrossPlex.” The facility is a world-class multi-purpose athletic and meeting space located near downtown Birmingham.
Woodfin said, “[Langford] made many contributions to our city and we feel … those contributions today where it has an amazing, positive ripple and benefit not just for our city but for all of our residents and our guests who come to our city.”
The mayor said he plans to present an official recommendation to the city council “to change the name, because we believe it’s fitting for all the work he did and for bringing this to life in our community and for the benefits it’s had.”
City Councilman Steven Hoyt is already on board, reportedly explaining, “[A]ll of us got some issues one way or the other.”
Alabama Media Group columnist and Topgolf enthusiast Kyle Whitmire has tweeted his support for the renaming, too.
“I’ve got no problem with this,” he stated.
In contrast, Whitmire has publicly complained that buildings and a street that were named for former Republican Alabama Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard before his conviction have not been renamed.
“In Alabama, there are two classes of white-collar criminal — those who are in the establishment and those who aren’t. The latter get erased from history. The former still has his freakin’ name on buildings and a boulevard in Auburn,” Whitmire tweeted in December.
Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
