Part of road to be named for Neil Armstrong

A new stretch of Ohio 123 in Lebanon is to be named Neil Armstrong Way.

The memorial plan is part of efforts by Jack Hedges, a former mayor and school board president in Lebanon to recognize Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon who had lived outside Lebanon.

"I think we would be remiss, having this opportunity, if we did nothing," Hedges said Thursday.

Construction of the $5.65 million reroute of a section of Ohio 123, from downtown Lebanon onto Ohio 63 south of the city center, is to be completed in late summer or early fall.

Lebanon City Council has given unanimous support to naming the road after Armstrong during a work session, Councilman James Norris said.

Armstrong lived for more than a decade on Ohio 123, between Lebanon and Springboro, just south of the town of Red Lion. He was living in Cincinnati when he died on Aug. 25, 2012 at the age of 82.

Efforts were also under way to name the stretch of Ohio 123 leading into Red Lion after Armstrong, "probably the greatest man who lived in my lifetime," Hedges said.

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