Amid the stir over the removal of statues of flawed political and military characters, a move is on to replace the name of Cobo Hall. Named after Albert Cobo, Detroit mayor in the 1950s whose administration was scarred by a racially-charged agenda to restrict where African Americans could live in the city, Mayor Mike Duggan is supporting the name change.

The deeper reasons, as usual, are fiscal. The site is barely breaking even with a $6 mil a year state subsidy that drops off to $5 mil next year and disappears in 2023. Selling naming rights could bring in up to $500K a year based on what Huntington Bank paid for the naming rights to Cleveland's convention center as cited in the article from Crain's.

In spite of all the new hotel space created in downtown Detroit, the article also notes that the 3500 rooms now available are still inadequate to attract many conventions.

Name change therefore appears a certainty as it is a win-win. A political win for Duggan in an election year, expunging a past racist issue, and a win for the convention center's bottom line.

By the way does any one have any interesting replacement name?