BAGHDAD — Adjacent to the Tigris River, Rasheed Street has been called “the memory of Baghdad” by Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi. But efforts to revive the once bustling street — or even to maintain its name — may prove to be an arduous task.

The Iraqi government has worked doggedly to restore the old glory of Baghdad, which has been the target of more bombings and explosions than its residents care to remember. The city is slowly returning to normal as dozens of security checkpoints and roadblocks are removed, enabling the flow of traffic. Construction of the new central bank, designed by the late Iraq-born architect Zaha Hadid on the west bank of the Tigris River, is expected to be completed within the year.

The renovation of Rasheed Street, on the other side of the Tigris, is also on the agenda, both for the country’s political elite and grass-roots groups. Prior to the removal of the road blocks and walls around this business and cultural hub, a group of Iraqi parliamentary representatives from Baghdad visited the street Feb. 27 to oversee the process that would open the street to traffic after 15 years. A few days after the opening, on March 14, a group of university students organized a modest clean-up campaign to draw attention to the historic street.

But some believe the street name needs to be changed first. Sami al-Askari, a member of the Iraqi National Assembly and the State of Law coalition, challenged the name "Rasheed" because it refers to Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rasheed, whom Shiites hate because he killed the seventh Shiite Imam Musa al-Kadhim, according to Shiite narratives. Askari tweeted March 31 that the name be changed, provoking many responses both for and against the change, though no official step has been taken to change the name.