Worcester Denies Street Name Change For 'Motley' Barbershop

WORCESTER, MA — A motley crew has been whipped into shape by the Worcester City Council.

The Council on Tuesday killed a local business owner's request rename a street after his barbershop. The two Councilors opposed to the change — Morris Bergman and Candy Mero-Carlson — said it wasn't supported by neighbors, and might ruin a bit of Worcester history.

Early in 2020, Zachary Leighton asked the City Council to change the name of Oleum Court — a 228-foot road off Shrewsbury Street just east of Cristoforo Colombo Park — to Motley Crew Way after Leighton's barbershop, Motley Crew Barber Company. The barbershop is the only business along Oleum Court.

It wasn't an homage to the umlaut-loving hair metal band (read about the name origin here). Leighton just thought it would be "cool" to tell customers that they could park along Motley Crew Way.

The name change came up at the Aug. 11 City Council meeting. Bergman asked for it to be postponed to do research about the history of Oleum Court, in case the word "Oleum" had some local historical significance.

On Tuesday, Bergman said he hadn't discovered any history connected to the name, and also said that it might just be a reference to the word "oleum," which means a "corrosive liquid consisting of concentrated sulfuric acid containing excess sulfur trioxide in solution."

He also didn't want to grant the change since Leighton is only leasing the barbershop space.

"I mean no disrespect to the owner, but he's not a property owner, so seems to me a little bit jumping ahead of things," Bergman said Tuesday.

Mero-Carlson, whose District 2 contains Oleum Court, said the local business association wasn't on board with the change, so she wasn't either. She might support it in the future if Leighton got the OK from the Shrewsbury Street Area Merchants Association, she said.

In the end, the Council voted unanimously to "file" the name change — city hall lingo that means putting an item on hold forever.