City refuses to name tunnel after actor Bud Spencer despite internet support
The Local
28 July 2011
09:06 CEST+02:00
Photo: DPA
Officials in Schwäbisch Gmünd in
Baden-Württemberg have declared they won’t name a tunnel after spaghetti
western star Bud Spencer despite a massive internet campaign.
Instead, they have decided, they’ll name a swimming pool after him in
homage to his brief swimming career, which included an appearance at
the 1952 Olympic Games. A final decision on the tunnel name is due in
September.
The decision came at a sometimes tumultuous city council meeting on
Wednesday that was filled with Bud Spencer fans who booed and protested.
Thousands of Germans have swarmed the website of the southwestern
city, voting to name a tunnel currently under construction after
Spencer, an Italian actor who starred in dozens of action movies with
his on-screen cohort Terence Hill.
In what started as an exercise in civic participation, Schwäbisch
Gmünd city officials collected public suggestions for the tunnel's name.
After sifting out blatantly offensive options, they then put them all
on the internet and invited people to vote earlier this year.
But before long, a groundswell of support for the Bud Spencer Tunnel
had formed, apparently driven by a campaign on the social networking
website Facebook.
More than 20,000 people claim to have voted to name the tunnel after
Spencer, prompting bemused city officials to claim the voting was
hijacked by outsiders. Schwäbisch Gmünd, best known for producing gold
and silver handicrafts, has just 62,000 people.
The Local/DPA/mdm
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