An online survey gathering feedback from those along the street remains open until Thursday evening.
SAN ANTONIO — As residents and business owners along Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard consider and give feedback on the potential future name of the street, the Conservation Society of San Antonio is pushing for a return to the familiar.
The 102-year-old organization, which says it passed a resolution formally opposing changing “historic street names” in the Alamo City in 2003, said Monday that the roughly five and a half miles of San Antonio road bearing the late labor leader’s name should be renamed Durango. That’s what the boulevard was known as until 2011, when City Council decided to rename it as a way to honor Chavez.
Allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse centering on Chavez, a Latino civil rights icon whose name adorns parks, streets and schools across the U.S., have sent shockwaves as communities reckon with the claims. Marches traditionally held on March 31 – his birthday – have been cancelled and leaders have taken steps to begin reclassifying holidays named after him but largely recognizing the farm workers movement he helped lead.
Within hours of the allegations becoming public on March 18, San Antonio Councilwoman Teri Castillo began pushing for a series of community meetings to rename Chavez Boulevard, which runs from the east side through the heart of the city and continues into her district in west San Antonio. The city has since launched an online survey to gather feedback from residents in those parts of town ahead of anticipated public forums where more input will be collected.
City Council could vote on renaming the boulevard in mid-to-late-May. The Conservation Society’s push echoes support from a large contingent of residents online who also want to see “Durango” back on street signs.
“The Durango Street name is an important part of San Antonio’s history,” the society said in a press release, pointing to the name’s 19th century origins in the Alamo City. “The naming of new roads, schools or public facilities after important contributors to San Antonio provides an appropriate way to honor them without sacrificing the existing signposts to our history.”
The city’s online survey remains open until 5 p.m. Thursday, and is available in English and Spanish. Meanwhile, some on social media have offered up other beloved Texas figures the renaming should pay tribute to, including Selena and Gregg Popovich. Others want to see President Donald Trump honored, and there is also a cohort that believes the most appropriate action would be to replace Chavez’s name with that of Dolores Huerta, the United Farm Workers cofounder who also said this month that Chavez assaulted her.
On Friday, commuters passing the intersection of South Presa and Chavez Boulevard in Southtown would have seen his name covered with cardboard that had Huerta’s name scrawled on it; a Public Works crew removed it shortly after.
City officials said they were finalizing dates for the community forums with City Council members. According to city records, staff anticipate the renaming effort will cost about $205,000 and will result in 295 changed addresses—more than twice as much as the roughly $99,300 it was estimated to have cost to install the “Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard” signs in the first place.