Lawton voters to decide city name change

LAWTON, Okla. (AP) -- Voters in Lawton will decide in March whether the city's name should officially be changed to "Lawton-Fort Sill."<br/><br/>The city council voted 6-to-2 earlier this week to place

Friday, December 17th 2004, 8:08 am

By: News On 6

LAWTON, Okla. (AP) -- Voters in Lawton will decide in March whether the city's name should officially be changed to "Lawton-Fort Sill."

The city council voted 6-to-2 earlier this week to place the question before voters in the March eighth municipal election.

Mayor John Purcell says many people already believe the city's name is Lawton-Fort Sill and that he supports a vote to change it.

But opponents say the name "Lawton" reflects a proud history and worry about the costs associated with the name change.

City councilman Bill Shoemate -- who opposed the vote -- says even though the two are closely related, each entity should retain its own name and history.