Corewell Health wants to rename a Grand Rapids road way
What’s in a name? Quite a bit, according to Corewell Health, which would like to rename part of a downtown Grand Rapids street Corewell Drive to create “sense of pride” for its workers.
If the state’s largest health system is able to sway city leaders, a two-block segment of Fairbanks Street Northwest between Bond Avenue and Ionia Avenue would get the new moniker.
A hearing to allow for public comment about the proposed name change is planned for Tuesday before the City Commission.
“It’s open to the public. Anybody can speak to it,” said City Engineer Tim Burkman.
A $98M construction project for new Grand Rapids headquarters
The renaming request comes as Corewell nears completion of a $98 million construction project that will become the Grand Rapids headquarters for its western Michigan properties. The health system, formed in 2022 when Spectrum Health and Beaumont Health combined, has 21 hospitals and 65,000 workers statewide. It also maintains a headquarters in Southfield for its metro Detroit operations.
In downtown Grand Rapids, Corewell owns 10 acres of land north of the Medical Mile along Monroe Avenue. That includes the former Brass Works Building, which has been renovated into a four-story office building for Corewell administrative workers.
In addition, construction on a new, eightstory tower is expected to be completed later this year, said Ellen Bristol, a Corewell spokesperson. The tower will connect to the Brass Works Building offices by a two-level bridge.
When it’s finished, the complex, to be called Corewell Health Place, is to include 30,000 square feet of office space, two parking decks, a fitness center, a pavilion and a large event venue. It will serve as the health system’s Grand Rapids headquarters.
In a statement to the Free Press, Corewell Health said: “We have asked the city to rename a short portion of Fairbanks Street to Corewell Drive to create a sense of pride now and in the future for team members who will be working in the area.
“The portion of the street we are seeking to rename ... is approximately two blocks long and is adjacent to Corewell Health Place. The lots on both sides of the area proposed to be renamed are owned by Corewell Health.”
Renaming a street doesn’t happen often
The City Commission has a written policy regarding requests to officially rename streets, which says the practice “has farreaching effects on the public safety and shall only be done in extraordinary circumstances.”
Those far-reaching effects include replacing street signs and updating historical records and address records with the U.S. Postal Service. Notification will have to be sent to tech companies such as Google and Apple, which make interactive maps, in addition to
utility providers and emergency services organizations. Tax records will need to be updated as well.
Still, Burkman said, the cost to change street signs on that small stretch of Fairbanks is likely to be less than $1,000, which includes labor costs.
“It’s fairly insignificant because there’s just not a lot of intersections to change the signage,” he said.
Owners of property adjacent to the twoblock section of Fairbanks Street Northwest in Grand Rapids were mailed notices of the renaming request, but, Burkman said: “all adjacent properties are either owned by Corewell or its subsidiaries.”
Only two Grand Rapids streets have been renamed since Burkman took the job as city engineer nearly five years ago. In 2021, Franklin Street and Grandville Avenue were changed to Martin Luther King Jr. Street and César E. Chávez Avenue, respectively.
“It’s not a common occurrence,” Burkman said. “Those changes came about through a community organization. A group of community leaders wanted to recognize those civil rights leaders.”
What is more common, he said, is to request a commemorative name for a city street. In those cases, the street officially keeps its original name, but is given an added commemorative designation.
That’s not what Corewell is seeking for this stretch of Fairbanks Avenue. The health system requested an official and permanent change. A review of historical records suggests that Fairbanks Avenue was not named for any important historical figure from the city’s past, Burkman said. Rather, it likely got its name because it was built beside the Grand River, which likely was considered to provide a “fair,” or lovely, view.
The public hearing on the street name will take place at 7 p.m. Tuesday on the ninth floor of Grand Rapids City Hall, 300 Monroe Ave., NW. The City Commission typically votes on name-change requests at the next regularly scheduled meeting following the public hearing. In this case, the meeting at which the commission is expected to vote is set for May 7, Burkman said.