DALLAS — Updated at 2:45 p.m. June 6 with committee approval.
A Dallas committee has approved the request to rename Olive Street in front of American Airlines Center to Nowitzki Way.
The stretch of Olive Street between North Field Street and Victory Avenue could be changed in honor of Dallas Mavericks great Dirk Nowitzki.
The city's subdivision review committee approved the street name change request Thursday. Next up, the request will go before the city plan commission in August.
If approved there, the request will then go to the council in September for final approval.
The name change could then go before the city plan commission in August and before council in September.
The application for the name change was submitted in May.
Now, a sign is out front of the AAC advertising the name change ahead of a public hearing on the matter.
The idea of a downtown street name change for Nowitzki was first suggested by DISD trustee and then-mayoral candidate Miguel Solis in April, during Nowitzki's final game.
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"For far too long, we’ve paid homage to Houston in front of a Dallas staple. That needs to change," Solis tweeted. "Let’s have the street running next to the house that Dirk built honor the Big German. Who’s with me in renaming it Dirk Drive?"
The most popular responses to the tweet were "Dirk Drive" and "Nowitzki Way."
"To be great in this facility in our city, you got to play the "Nowitzki Way – you got to be the total player," Solis said in April.
In the memo suggesting the proposed name change, deputy mayor pro tem Adam Medrano, council member Omar Narvaez and council member and mayoral candidate Scott Griggs wrote:
"Mr. Dirk Nowitzki is a German professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association..
"Mr. Nowitzki, a devoted husband and father, has demonstrated his selflessness by accepting less money in order to stay in Dallas and help the Mavericks sign additional talent over the years."
"Through the Dirk Nowitzki Foundation, he awards grants annually to organizations focusing on children's wellbeing, health and education. Last year, the Foundation raised $960,000 and held its annual Pro celebrity Tennis Classic, raising $1.92 million for Hurricane Harvey victims.
Mr. Nowitzki also hosts the Heroes Celebrity Baseball game to benefit various local nonprofits and visits patients at Children's Medical Center every December,
He demonstrates the highest levels of compassion, honesty, teamwork, respect and integrity in both his personal and professional life, and he has served as a global ambassador for the City of Dallas throughout his 21 years with the Mavericks."
Dallas city ordinance requires states "a street name commemorating a person is prohibited until at least two years after the death of the person," but that requirement can be waived however, if the three-fourths of the city council votes to approve.