Trending: Turn left at Peel and upstairs to Schwarzenegger

 

Will Dean
Monday 05 March 2012 01:00 GMT
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On Friday, the BBC director-general Mark Thompson revealed that part of Radio 1's new home in Broadcasting House is to be renamed The John Peel Wing.

The much-missed DJ will lend his name to the former Egton Wing (which took its old name from a village in Yorkshire) of BBC Radio's London base.

It is actually a fairly sensible choice but still seems a bit of a quirky one, at least compared to the countless wings and buildings named for generous benefactors or local politicians.

Airports are a particular hotspot for unlikely namings. Take the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in his hometown of Latrobe, Pennsylvania. The same state hosts the Jimmy Stewart Airport in Indiana County. Federico Fellini has an airport named in his honour in Rimini, Italy. Bob Hope has one in California and Louis Armstrong in New Orleans. And even a non-violent uprising a quarter of a century ago hasn't been enough to make authorities in Mati in the Philipines change the name of the Imelda R Marcos Airport.

Another oddity is Austrian football club Sturm Graz's stadium which, from its completion in 1995 to 2005 was named after Graz's most famous son, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Sadly, it was then renamed the UPC Stadium after locals objected to the-then California Governor's approval of an execution.

Then there are cases when dedicated names don't quite stick. Who knew, that the most famous stadium in world football, the Maracanã, is named the Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho after a humble Brazilian journalist?

There are also cases of mistaken identity. Parents confused about why their children are so excited about heading to the Brent Council-owned Gordon Brown Centre in Hampshire might be interested to know that it's named after a Brent scientist, rather than the former Prime Minister.

If only Kirkcaldy had an airport, eh, Gord?

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