Photo by KCIvey.

As if this piece of rumor mongering by examiner.com blogger York Van Nixon III wasn’t tantalizing enough, here’s the lede:

Residents of the District of Columbia not living here during 70s may gasp at the notion of former Mayor Marion Barry being associated with anything made of bronze, besides a pair of handcuffs.

Whoa-ho-ho, now we can start the party! York writes about the whispers that a planned development at the corner of Minnesota and Pennsylvania Avenues SE could be named after the Mayor-for-Life:

The latest rumor, which appears to have legs, is that a developer has plans for a major project in Southeast Washington that will dwarf “The Grays” that opened last week at 2323 Pennsylvania Avenue, S.E.  The same source suggested the name of the project will be the Marion S. Barry Employment Center.

Calls to Jackie Ward (Ward 8 Constituent Services) and Joyce Clements-Smith (Chief of Staff) were unable to confirm rumors. But a conversation with Reverend Anthony Motley of the First Rising Mt. Zion Church, who runs the Bellevue Resource Center, did elicit a hint that such a project would likely be built where an art deco building stands at Minnesota and Pennsylvania Avenues.  He also stated that any project addressing high unemployment east of the Anacostia Rivera would be a plus for everyone, and it being dedicated to Councilman Barry as appropriate and well-earned.

The rumor is that there’s going to be a plaque in Barry’s honor, too. Of course, this isn’t shocking. The Ward 8 Councilmember’s name is already all over this town. (It’s not like there’s any possible way that anyone can forget that Barry dedicated the Reeves Center every single time one walks westbound down U Street.) But we thought that we’d chip in and think about some other possible structures that the District could build to appropriately honor Mr. Barry.