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Earlier this month, Claude, San Francisco’s famed albino alligator and the “unofficial mascot” of the California Academy of Sciences, suddenly passed away. He was 30, and died of liver cancer.
Now District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar is hoping to memorialize Claude’s legacy by renaming a city street “Claude the Albino Alligator Way” — and she’s letting the public weigh in.
“Claude was an icon of a public figure — that’s why we need a public process to decide how to honor him,” Melgar said. “This process will give the public direct influence over how we as a city commemorate his legacy and keep him in our hearts.”
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That’s where Mission Local’s poll comes in. See our map below for the streets up for consideration for renaming by the city, all of which neighbor the California Academy of Sciences, where Claude lived for 17 years. Then use the tool below to vote for your preferred street.
On Tuesday, Melgar will introduce a resolution to commemorate Claude. Once we close this poll on Dec. 31, Melgar’s office will officially send the results to the Recreation and Parks commission, which will ultimately decide which street receives the new name. The poll results will be published in early January.
Which street should be named after Claude the alligator?
California Academy
of Sciences
California
Academy
of Sciences
Graphic by Kelly Waldron. Basemap from Google Earth.
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Find me looking at data. I studied Geography at McGill University and worked at a remote sensing company in Montreal, analyzing methane data, before turning to journalism and earning a master’s degree from Columbia Journalism School.