Michael Cass

mcass@tennessean.com

The Metro Council voted Tuesday to name a bridge for a celebrated journalist who once saved a man from jumping from it.

The council voted to rename the Shelby Avenue pedestrian bridge across the Cumberland River for Tennessean Chairman Emeritus John Seigenthaler, who reached out and grabbed Gene Bradford Williams before he could leap to his death on Oct. 4, 1954.

Williams had called The Tennessean to say he was about to jump and wanted to speak to a reporter, and Seigenthaler, who was 27, got the assignment and raced to the scene. After about 40 minutes of conversation, Williams tensed up. Seigenthaler, recognizing the man was about to jump from a gas pipe that ran alongside the bridge below the railing, grabbed him and held on until police officers could help him pull Williams to safety.

Seigenthaler, now 86, went on to lead The Tennessean as its top editor for 29 years after working in President John F. Kennedy’s administration for more than a year.

A naming ceremony is scheduled for April 29.

In other business, the council approved the Metro Development and Housing Agency’s plan to increase the money available for tax-increment financing in four redevelopment districts in and around downtown. Tax-increment financing uses the incremental growth in property tax revenue generated by a development to pay off debt issued to subsidize that development.

The MDHA plan extends the Arts Center, Capitol Mall, Jefferson Street and Rutledge Hill redevelopment plans through 2040 and adds a combined $121.5 million in financing capacity.

Reach Michael Cass at 615-259-8838 and on Twitter @tnmetro.