SAN ANTONIO – A group looking to bring back Old Highway 90 held an old-fashioned fundraiser for their fight on Saturday.
The Save Old Highway 90 Alliance held a barbecue plate sale as it prepares to take its case to the City Council. The group wants to change Enrique M. Barrera Parkway, which was renamed in 2015, back to Old Highway 90.
"There are all kinds of costs involved. I mean, just the application was $32,000," business owner Michael Cooremans said. "That's the cost of the TxDOT (Texas Department of Transportation) signs and the cost of the city signs that we'll have to pay to put the name back."
Cooremans has owned a business along Old Highway 90 for 40 years. For him and other longtime business owners, that address is part of them.
"We've got our history and our identity on Old Highway 90," he said.
Last September, the City Council changed the name of Old Highway 90 to Enrique M. Barrera Parkway with a memorial designation of Historic Old Highway 90. Cooremans and other West Side business owners have been pushing back against the change.
The change has really hurt our businesses," he said. "There's a lot of confusion, even with the GPS. People look us up and they figure we moved because of the different address. Later on, they come back and 'Hey, I didn't know y'all were still here.' We're still here. We haven't moved."
In August, the group convinced the Planning Commission to approve a motion to change the name back.
The group still needs City Council approval, which it says it will be seeking at the council's Oct. 20 meeting.
"We never wanted the name change to begin with. Our voices were silent," Cooremans said. "But now we have got a voice and they have to listen to us."