Pasadena City Council Sees Opposition to Proposed Street Renaming in Honor of R&B Group ‘Troop’

The Pasadena City Council is set to consider a proposal to rename a portion of Dayton Street to Troop Way in honor of the rhythm and blues group Troop, at its April 15 meeting. However, the plan has faced opposition from the Castle Green Homeowners Association, who argue that the historic significance of Dayton Street should be preserved.

Troop, originally named “Five of A Kind,” was formed in Pasadena in 1984. 

The group, whose members include Rodney Benford, Reggie Warren, Jan Jan Harreld, Steve Russell, and Allen McNeil, has strong ties to the city. Throughout their formative years, they practiced and performed at various venues across Pasadena.

The Castle Green Homeowners Association emphasized the importance of Dayton Street as part of the historic landmark block that includes Castle Green and Hotel Green, as well as its inclusion in the historic Old Pasadena landmark area in a letter addressed to the City Council.

Dayron Street has been home to Pasadena’s first firehouse, first library, and many other historically significant venues over the years, noted the Castle Green Homeowners Association.

The Homeowners Association pointed out that street name changes are rarely used for commemorative purposes in Pasadena, with only a few exceptions in recent decades. 

Those exceptions included honoring the late Chief Executive Officer of Parsons, who died in a plane crash while on a mission with the United States Chamber of Commerce to the Balkans, and renaming a portion of Ramona after the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. 

The La Loma Bridge was also renamed in honor of longtime Pasadena resident and former California State Attorney General, John Van de Kamp, after his death.

The Castle Green Homeowners Association suggested that the City consider alternative ways to honor Troop, such as installing a plaque referencing the part of Pasadena where the group members were born, lived, or created their work. 

The HOA also highlighted the City’s Public Monument Policy, which states that such city-wide honors should be bestowed posthumously and only after a thorough review of their significance.

“The Castle Green’s constituency has no issue with honoring Troop or anyone else, but the standard to change a street name, particularly one as historic as Dayton, should be very high,” the Homeowners Association wrote in their letter.

The City Council will weigh the concerns raised by the Castle Green Homeowners Association and the significance of honoring Troop’s contributions to the music world and Pasadena’s cultural heritage during the April 15 meeting. The Council will also consider an alternative proposal to rename a portion of Morton Avenue between Hammond Street and Mountain Street to Troop Way, as the group practiced at the nearby Robinson Park Recreation Center for over 30 years.