Grave St. Near Casino To Bear Name Of City’s Advocate Sen. Louise Lucas

PORTSMOUTH

The street near the Rivers Casino Portsmouth and TCC will bear the name of Virginia State Senator L. Louise Lucas, who has served as a Virginia state legislator for more than three decades.

According to news reports, the City Council recently voted unanimously to rename a stretch of road near the casino and Tidewater Community College to “L. Louise Lucas Drive” in honor of her advocacy and service to the city for more than four decades. Lucas was instrumental in bringing the Rivers Casino to Portsmouth. It is the region’s first casino.

“I’m ecstatic because there’s no greater honor than to be honored in your own hometown,” Lucas said, in a recent statement.

The Rivers Casino Portsmouth which  has added $15 million plus dollars to Portsmouth’s tax base, also has produced a newly named Missy Elliott Boulevard nearby, which extends to a driveway and serves the casino. The Planning Commission also voted unanimously in favor of the request. City staff noted in a memo about the request that no adjacent property owners objected and that Lucas agreed with and was “flattered” by the initiative.

Lucas, a Democrat, represents Portsmouth and Chesapeake in the Virginia Senate, where she is Senate President Pro Tempore and chair of the powerful Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee which spearheads the state’s budget negotiations. Lucas entered politics as a Portsmouth City Council member in 1984. She was first elected to the State Legislature as a Senator in 1992.