The Pasadena City Council met on Monday and directed officials to come up with ideas on how to best memorialize Eddie Van Halen.
According to an article published by The Pasadena Star News, elected officials directed City Manager Steve Mermell to bring together a public group to offer up tribute ideas, then return to the council with suggestions as to how the city could best remember its homegrown guitar god.
The prospect of an Eddie Van Halen memorial in Pasadena brought out dozens of public commenters, including several from out of state, urging the city to take action, each with their own suggestions.
Below are some of the suggestions:
- Erect a monument in the city, whether that’s a life-size statue of Eddie Van Halen, or a plaque on one of Van Halen’s former stomping grounds.
- Rename the Pasadena alleyway Electric Drive near the former Raymond Theater where the group rehearsed.
- Rename a park.
- Rechristen a city building.
- Turn Eddie’s childhood home on Las Lunas Street into a historic landmark.
One person even pressed the city to preserve the concrete where a teenage Eddie wrote his name in the sidewalk outside a liquor store.
According to an article posted by the online magazine Pasadena Now, a preferred location for a monument might be at the Pasadena Convention Center and Civic Auditorium, a location where the band played several of its earliest performances.
Pasadena City College will also consider a memorial at its next Board of Trustees meeting, and the Pasadena Center Operating Company has received an inquiry for a virtual concert to raise funds to build a statue.
“Recognizing Van Halen the band and/or individual members should be considered,” according to the staff report. “With his passing, Eddie Van Halen’s international recognition as a musical artist is noted for the significant impact he had on the Rock & Roll genre and his legacy is a source of hometown pride for the city.”
Video of the Pasadena City Council’s consideration of the Eddie Van Halen Memorial:
The Pasadena City Council agenda report:
