Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Courthouse wings named after Campbell, Reddick
Broward building to share names of Coral Springs mayor, county’s first black judge
A year after removing the statue of Gov. Napoleon Bonaparte Broward from the county courthouse, commissioners are preparing to name two of its buildings after more recent county figures.
Commissioners voted to support proposals to name wings of the downtown Fort Lauderdale courthouse for Skip Campbell, longtime Coral Springs mayor who died in October, and Thomas J. Reddick Jr., the county’s first black circuit court judge. Commissioners are expected to take formal action early next year.
The new 20-story west wing would be named for Campbell, who also served as a state senator and president of the Broward Bar Association. Reddick’s name would go on the north wing where the Public Defender’s Office is based and where criminal trials are held.
Commissioner Mark Bogen proposed having the tower named for Campbell because he was “a man who was admired by everybody.”
Campbell’s law partner, Kelly Hancock, said “he was the champion of the people.” Kelly said naming the courthouse wing for Campbell was fitting because “the courthouse is a people’s courthouse, and I think that becomes very important because that’s who Skip fought for all those years.”
Lobbyist Ron Book echoed those sentiments.
“What he left behind was a reputation for doing the right thing, a reputation for saying what he meant, meaning what he said and carrying through,” Book said.
Commissioner Nan Rich served with Campbell in the state Senate. “He was a caring person, kind, he worked across the aisle, everyone’s opinion mattered and he truly cared about children,” she said.
With the commission agreeing to name the west wing for Campbell, Commissioner Dale Holness proposed naming the north wing for Reddick, who also served as the first black assistant public defender. Reddick died in 1993.
“Judge Reddick was a first in a lot of respects,” said Christopher Saunders, president of the TJ Reddick Bar Association.
“I would also enthusiastically support this commission placing a symbol that young AfricanAmerican attorneys and the clients that they represent could see as they walked through the courtroom, to understand that the county acknowledges the struggles and the successes of being an African-American attorney in Broward County,” Saunders said.
Broward’s statue was removed from the courthouse after information surfaced regarding segregationist and racist policies he promoted. The Reddick Bar Association then sought to have Reddick honored in the courthouse. In January, commissioners agreed to allow a portrait of Reddick to be installed in the courthouse.
“We thought we were going to get a portrait, but now I said, why not [have a wing], there’s three or four wings there,” Holness said. “It’s fitting, I think, to have that done also.”