![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Wayne-Jeronimus-surrounded-by-former-colleagues-and-Berkeley-residents-cuts-ribbon-for-his-alley-way.jpeg\")
Wayne Jeronimus, flanked by former colleagues, members of the Berkeley Path Wanderers Association and Berkeley residents, cuts the ribbon for the West Berkeley alley that now bears his name on Aug. 30, 2026. Credit: Daniel Ekonde\/Berkeleyside<\/p>\n
It\u2019s likely that not many local residents know that until recently there was a street in Berkeley named 5\u00bd Street. Last year, however, the alley running parallel between Fifth and Sixth streets, and between Camelia and Virginia streets, was quietly renamed<\/a> by the city from 5\u00bd Street to Jeronimus Alley. And, over the weekend, a ribbon-cutting ceremony sealed the deal.<\/p>\n Wayne Jeronimus, a longtime, now-retired city official whose work, among other things, helped preserve nine cottages for low-income first-time homebuyers on Fifth Street, said he was \u201cvery grateful and honored\u201d to have the former 5\u00bd Street renamed after him. In fact, 37 years ago Jeronimus jokingly requested for the alley to be named for him.<\/p>\n \u201cI appreciate all the people that have worked so hard to get it done,\u201d Jeronimus, who now lives in Arizona, said on Sunday. <\/p>\n The ribbon-cutting was organized by the Berkeley Path Wanderers Association (BPWA), a volunteer-run group that restores and preserves public paths.<\/p>\n A joke that became reality 37 years later<\/p>\n Jeronimus made the joke at a 1988 board meeting of the now defunct Berkeley Redevelopment Agency (BRA) where he worked. Members were discussing how they wanted to recognize employees for their work.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s when I said, \u2018Well, if they want to do that, just tell them to name the [5\u00bd Street] alley after me,\u2019\u201d said Jeronimus, who was the agency\u2019s financial project coordinator. The Successor Agency<\/a> replaced the BRA after its dissolution in 2012<\/a>. Jeronimus worked on housing rehabilitation, new construction and affordable housing between 1976 and 1999.<\/p>\n Shortly after Jeronimus\u2019 suggestion, and without city approval, his colleagues took matters into their own hands, and posted the first \u201cJeronimus Alley\u201d sign at the Virginia Street end of the alley. \u201cI don\u2019t even think anyone noticed it,\u201d said Carole Norris, Jeronimus\u2019 colleague at the time. \u201cIf they did, they certainly didn\u2019t say anything or do anything about it.\u201d<\/p>\n In an email to the BPWA shared with Berkeleyside, Lucia Mele, another colleague of Jeronimus, recounted how she and the architect who designed the sign drove Jeronimus to see it one evening. \u201cAll I cared about was surprising Wayne,\u201d Mele wrote. \u201cAnd we did!\u201d<\/p>\n For decades, the alley maintained its 5\u00bd Street name. The campaign to rename the alley gained momentum in 2023 when the BPWA included the renamed alley in its \u201cBerkeley and its Pathways\u201d guide, a specialized street and transit map for navigating the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n Soon, the BPWA launched a process to have the city formally recognize the alley as \u201cJeronimus Alley.\u201d \u201cI wrote a proposal and shared it with the Public Works Department, and it brought it to the city,\u201d said Janet Byron, the BPWA\u2019s former president.\u00a0<\/p>\n Byron said the association learned of Jeronimus\u2019 work in the neighborhood when it collaborated with the Berkeley-based Youth Spirit Artworks<\/a> to install a 35-foot mural along the alley in 2023, part of an effort to turn the area into a popular spot for murals and art like San Francisco\u2019s Clarion Alley<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Helping low-income people get homes<\/p>\n Jean Braxton, 86, attended the ribbon-cutting on Sunday. Braxton was a single parent and working as a mail carrier in 1969 when she bought a three-bedroom house on Francisco Street and was given a $25,000 loan from Jeronimus\u2019 office to renovate the house.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI was still low income, and that helped me get what I needed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were supposed to be loaning to people that were not able to get bank loans, so they could get money from the city of Berkeley,\u201d Jeronimus explained.<\/p>\n Braxton said Jeronimus was a \u201cgood man,\u201d who helped people without any racial discrimination. \u201cI\u2019m glad [because] he deserves it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The highlight of Jeronimus\u2019 work was when, through the Berkeley Redevelopment Agency, he preserved nine \u201cworking-man\u201d cottages\u00a0 slated for demolition.\u00a0<\/p>\n Through a lottery, his team picked nine low-income, first-time homebuyers to purchase the properties. He said the goal was to keep the houses affordable permanently, \u201cso they [the homebuyers] wouldn\u2019t spend more than 30% of their income on housing.\u201d<\/p>\n Jeronimus said he believed \u201ca lot of Hispanic people\u201d had been displaced before the redevelopment agency took them over.<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/IMG_7945.jpg\")
Wayne Jeronimus, who worked on housing for the city of Berkeley, talked about his work there at Sunday\u2019s ribbon-cutting ceremony. Credit: Daniel Ekonde\/Berkeleyside<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/IMG_7940.jpg\")
Jeronimus Alley runs parallel between Fifth and Sixth streets, and between Camelia and Virginia streets. Credit: Daniel Ekonde\/Berkeleyside<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/IMG_7950.jpg\")
Jean Braxton, seated, meets Wayne Jeronimus, whose office helped her get a loan from the city of Berkeley in 1969. Credit: Daniel Ekonde\/Berkeleyside<\/p>\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/IMG_7936.jpg\")
A stretch of the Jeronimus Alley adorned with colorful murals, Aug. 30, 2026. Credit: Daniel Ekonde\/Berkeleyside<\/p>\n