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	Legislature May Rename Augusta's Curran Bridge By Matthew Stone Morning Sentinel January 1, 2009 http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/5769698.html AUGUSTA -- Legislators will take up a bill this winter proposing to rename the city's Father John J. Curran Bridge. Under a proposal recently submitted by Rep. Patsy Crockett, D-Augusta, the downtown span would become the Calumet Bridge at Old Fort Western. The bid to rename the bridge, which connects downtown with the city's east side, gained momentum in July when Augusta city councilors unanimously backed a resolution urging legislators to rename the bridge. The move comes after a year in which the names of two scholarships named for Curran were changed within weeks of each other. The span is named for the Rev. John J. Curran, a St. Augustine Church priest who died in 1976 and was accused posthumously of having abused children sexually. Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland officials have said they would bar Curran from ministering if he were alive today and would request that the Vatican remove him from the priesthood. "I think people can find something in the (proposed) name that sort of fits Augusta," Crockett said. In "Calumet," Crockett said, the bridge would recognize Augusta's Franco-American heritage. The nod to Old Fort Western, the historic landmark next to the bridge's eastern end, acknowledges Augusta's English origins. "It's such a treasure," Crockett said of the fort. "We're lucky to have it." The council's resolution in July followed decisions by the University of Maine at Augusta and the Calumet Educational and Literary Foundation to change the names of scholarship awards they offered to city students in Curran's name. The groups changed the names in June after advocates for victims of clergy sexual abuse began pressing the organizations to remove the acknowledgements of Curran. However, Jan Michaud, president of the Calumet Educational and Literary Foundation, has said the change to the group's scholarship name was unrelated to allegations linking Curran to sexual abuse of children. Augusta City Councilor Patrick Paradis said the proposed name symbolizes a connection between the city's Franco-American population and the rest of the city. "It bridges that significance between the east side and the west side of Augusta," Paradis said. "It's historical. It ties the old with the new." A "calumet" is an American Indian smoking pipe, often referred to as a "peace pipe," symbolizing peace among the different groups that make up Augusta's population, Paradis said. In Augusta, the Calumet name is closely linked with Le Club Calumet, a 900-member Franco-American organization. Paradis and Augusta Councilor David Rollins attended a club meeting Monday to explain the proposed name and to seek club members' OK to use "Calumet" in the bridge name. Club members are "honored that they would use the Calumet name to rename the bridge," Le Club Calumet President Patrick Boucher said. "It still recognizes the Franco-American contributions to the city of Augusta. When they added 'Fort Western' (to the proposed new bridge name), that kind of ties it in with the rest of the community." Old Fort Western director and curator Jay Adams said the proposed name is "historically appropriate." "One (part of the name) is about its location and the other is more of a recognition," he said. As Augusta tries to develop a brand to market itself, Rollins said, the proposed name for the Curran Bridge could figure into that effort. "It brings peace to two communities and a lot of imagery and a lot of history, which is what we want to promote in Augusta's image," he said.
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