Barack Obama’s name replaces JFK’s on South Jersey municipal building

Barack Obama official visit to Japan (Getty)

Even though President Barack Obama has just under 900 days left in his second term, a South Jersey town is already emblazoning his name on public buildings.

According to the Burlington County Times, Willingboro Township will rename its recreation center after the 44th president.

And the kicker: it was formerly named after John F. Kennedy, the nation’s 35th president.

The renaming was approved at the township council’s Tuesday meeting. The building, which was first built as a high school in the mid-1960s, currently serves as the municipality’s recreation center and senior citizen hub, according to the newspaper. Obama’s name will grace the building once a large-scale, $4.9 million renovation concludes next March.

Township Councilman Chris Walker told the newspaper that he agreed it is unusual to rename a municipal building after a sitting president, but said the council felt the recognition was warranted. He added that the change was not meant as a slight against Kennedy, who was assassinated in the middle of his first and only term in 1963, especially since the center is located on John F. Kennedy Way.

One resident, unhappy with the move, told the newspaper that the residents of the community should have a say in the matter.

Not surprisingly, the majority Democratic town strongly supported Obama in both the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections.

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