June 28, 2010
Byrd's name is everywhere you look in W.Va.
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Click here to see a timeline, videos and more on Robert C. Byrd.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Dr. L. Clark Hansbarger, 80, can't really remember his life without Sen. Robert C. Byrd.

"It goes back to my adolescent age, when my parents lived in Welch," he said. "My father, Julian Hansbarger, served in the Legislature.

"He's been there all my life. And he's one of those individuals that you don't really know well, but his contact has been palpable."

That palpability comes not only with personal contact, but also with the multitude of roads, buildings, centers and bridges named after the late senator.

Hansbarger, the associate vice president for the West Virginia University Charleston Division of the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center and dean of the school of medicine, is one of the many people who work in a building named after Byrd.

"I haven't seen anyone not happy when he walks into town," Hansbarger said.

At the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center and its affiliates, the contributions go back 20 to 25 years.

In Charleston, the medical school campus bears his name, as do an addition and floors at CAMC Memorial and CAMC General hospitals.

"And right next door is the University of Charleston's pharmacy school. We use their facilities.

"He's everywhere. Look at the [federal] courthouse or here," he said. "[Byrd] sees it as an obligation he has to his community. In health care, he was convinced that health science was extremely important to the community.

"People talk about allocation reform ... but I have never seen a misuse of money he has gotten for the state. It has always been bricks and mortar going to needy situations. I don't feel a bit guilty about spending taxpayer money for what I feel are worthy situations.

"It's going to be a different world. We'll have to get used to it."

Here's a list of buildings and roads that bear the Byrd name:

BECKLEY -- Robert C. Byrd United States Courthouse and Federal Building; Robert C. Byrd Learning Resource Center and Robert C. Byrd Library, Mountain State University.

BETHANY -- Robert C. Byrd Health and Wellness Center, Bethany College.

BRIDGEPORT -- Robert C. Byrd National Aerospace Education Center (affiliated with Fairmont State University); Robert C. Byrd Bridgeport Manufacturing Technology Center; Robert C. Byrd Institute for Composites Technology and Training Center; Robert C. Byrd Institute for Advanced Flexible Manufacturing.

CHARLESTON -- Robert C. Byrd United States Courthouse; Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center (WVU Charleston) and Robert C. Byrd Clinical Teaching Center, CAMC Memorial Hospital; Robert C. Byrd Freeway (Appalachian Corridor G-U.S. 119); Robert C. Byrd Center for Pharmacy Education, University of Charleston; Robert C. Byrd Institute for Advanced Flexible Manufacturing.

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Copyright 2011 The Charleston Gazette. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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