Columbus Council approves naming government buildings after these two former leaders

Columbus Councilhas approved naming the future judicial center and the current public safety building after two men who left their mark on the city.

During the meeting Tuesday, the council unanimously voted to name the buildings after a former judge and a former police chief and mayor.

The council approved the naming of the judicial center after the late Judge John D. Allen and the public safety building after the late mayor and police chief Jim Wetherington.

This comes after the Columbus Board of Honor approved the recommendations Thursday to name the buildings after Allen and Wetherington.

After that meeting,Superior Court Judge Bobby Peters, the former mayor who recommended Allen’s name for the judicial center, said he was, “very proud of the board for doing this.”

Herman Miles, retired deputy chief of professional standards for the Columbus Police Department, submitted the request for the public safety building to be named after Wetherington, according to a document in the agenda.

Allen retired as the chief Judicial Circuit judge in 2013 and was inducted to the Georgia Military Veterans Hall of Fame in 2020.

As a pilot in the Air Force during the Vietnam War, Allen flew 284 combat missions over hostile enemy zones. He earned six Distinguished Flying Crosses and 23 Air Medals.

Allen was honorably discharged in 1973 to attend law school at the University of Florida. Allen and Peters would alter form the first integrated law firm in Columbus during the 1970s.

Wetherington served as a police chief from 1981 until his retirement in 1995. Wetherington was appointed to the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles.

He was appointed to commissioner of the Georgia Department of Corrections in 1999. Wetherington was elected as the 67th mayor of Columbus and served from 2007-11.

Wetherington was named the 1994 Police Chief of the Year from the Georgia Police Chiefs Association. As police chief, he was credited with developing a promotion system to eliminate appointed ranks, which helped increase the number of promoted minorities.