By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

PAWTUCKET — A city councilor who had previously opposed efforts to name the new School Administration Building for the late J. William Busald, is now proposing to have a stretch of downtown roadway named for the former school committee chairman instead.

At its noontime meeting today, the City Council is scheduled to consider a resolution by Councilor Henry Kinch Jr. to rename a portion of Park Place North as “Bill Busald Way.” The School Administration building is located at 286 Main Street.
Kinch’s proposal would change city records and street signs for the northerly portion of Park Place that is currently street signed as Park Place North to “Bill Busald Way.” This is the section of road that intersects on the southerly end at Main Street between 286 and 264-272 Main Street and on the northerly end again at Main Street adjacent to 385 Main Street.
However, Kinch did not contact the School Committee in advance about the proposal, and one School Committee member, Amy-Lynn Zolt, said she is adamantly opposed to the street change. She called it “disrespectful” and added, “It’s like being rolled over.”
Back in May, Kinch had vowed to block an effort by Zolt to have the School Administration Building named for Busald. Zolt had made a motion at a May 13 School Committee meeting that the former Registry of Motor Vehicles building be called the J. William Busald Administration Building. She cited Busald’s 12 years on the School Committee as well as efforts in brokering the deal to obtain the property at 286 Main Street.
However, Zolt’s motion was tabled by the School Committee after a dispute arose over whether the name of another school administrator, Edward J. Creamer, should be transferred to the new school administration building. The former school administration building at 81 Park Place had been named for Creamer, a longtime school department business manager. That building has since been purchased by a private developer.
Kinch and some other local educators and residents maintain that Creamer’s name should grace the new school administration building at 286 Main Street. Kinch has stated that to remove it would be akin to “erasing” Creamer’s many years of service to the city.
Zolt, on the other hand, alleges that Kinch’s motive in keeping Creamer’s name is mostly “political.” In the 2006 democratic primary, Busald was a campaign worker for Kinch’s then-opponent, Albert Vitali Jr.
Kinch insists that his opposition to having Busald’s name on 286 Main Street is neither personal not political. He said he had spoken about the street sign change on several occasions with Busald’s daughter, Helen Connors, and maintained that she and the rest of the family “are thrilled” about the idea. “She indicated to me in our conversations that the family is supportive. I never would have done this without her blessing,” said Kinch.
Zolt tells a different story, saying that, to her knowledge, the family doesn’t like the street idea and would prefer to see his name on the building. She said she would not be opposed to having both Creamer’s and Busald’s names on the building as a compromise. She also said she would try to raise money for donations for a plaque to Busald that could hang inside the building.
Zolt said that Busald’s main focus in obtaining 286 Main St. was to move the students who were attending programs in the antiquated building at 81 Park Place into more modern quarters. “Bill worked so hard to get us this building. He didn’t find the street, he found the building,”  she insisted.
As a side matter, she said that she and the rest of the School Committee had not been notified by Kinch about the street sign proposal. School Committee Chairman Gordon Gould confirmed that the School Committee had not been told about Kinch’s plan.
On that topic, Kinch said he didn’t feel that he had to notify the School Committee, noting that it is the City Council that is charged with the naming of buildings, streets and other public venues.
At Wednesday’s meeting, the City Council will also consider a resolution by Mayor James Doyle to name the city’s new emergency management facility at 260 Armistice Boulevard as the “Shawn M. Nassaney Emergency Operations Center.” Nassaney was a Pawtucket native who was killed in one of the plane crashes during the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
The council will also hold a public hearing on a tax stabilization plan for Amaral Revite Corporation, the private developer who is planning to renovate the former school administration building at 81 Park Place into office and retail space.
Additionally, the council will vote on second passage of an amendment to a zoning ordinance that would establish an overlay district for the re-use of old mill buildings. The amendment would greatly expand the activities that are permitted in areas zoned for manufacturing.