SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio is pushing ahead with two street name changes: one to remove the name of a disgraced labor icon and another to recognize a local sports hero.
The San Antonio City Council’s Governance Committee voted 4-0 to advance the renaming of César E. Chávez Boulevard back to Durango Boulevard, and Splashtown Drive to Willie Mitchell Drive.
Both name changes still need to undergo a technical review, consideration by the Planning Commission, and a vote by the full San Antonio City Council, the last of which city staff expect in August.
The renaming of César E. Chávez Boulevard also needs to be considered by the Historic and Design Review Commission, and there will be a community meeting on the proposed change for Splashtown Drive.
However, Development Services Director Logan Sparrow said the two commissions will only make recommendations on the change. It will be up to the city council to make the actual decisions.
Durango to Chávez to Durango again
The renaming of César E. Chávez Boulevard is part of a wider wave of communities reconsidering how they recognize the labor leader in the wake of a recent New York Times investigation.
Chavez, who died in 1993, is accused of sexually abusing girls and the co-founder of the United Farm Workers of America union, Dolores Huerta, decades ago.
The street, which spans from the West Side across downtown to the near East Side, was named after Chávez in 2011, replacing the previous name, Durango Boulevard.
After the allegations against Chávez came to light, the city received more than 18,000 responses for a survey on renaming the street.
And though many of the suggestions included other civil rights or farmworker movement themes, such as “Dolores Huerta Boulevard,” the city says 64% of respondents wanted the name changed back to Durango Boulevard.
For the respondents who live on the street, the city says that rose to 79%.
Councilwoman Teri Castillo (D5) submitted the official request to change the name back to Durango Boulevard. Given the severity of the allegations against Chávez, Castillo said the city has a responsibility to take “quick action.”
“Many of my constituents have shared that they didn’t understand why it was changed in the first place. Many still refer to César Chávez Street as ‘Durango,’” she told KSAT. “So, many are grateful that we are going back to the original name of Durango for the road."
Sparrow estimated the cost to rename the street will run between $200,000 and $300,000, mostly due to signage, and said the city is still looking to identify funding for it.
In her request, Castillo asked to help cover the sign replacement as well as costs incurred by residents and businesses because of the name change using money for what would have been the city’s annual César Chávez march.
“The rough estimate is roughly $26 to $51 for potentially renewing checkbooks and IDs, but that’s a further analysis will need to be conducted for that,” she told KSAT.
Touchdown for Willie Mitchell
Less than 700 yards long off the Interstate 35 access road on the East Side, Splashtown Drive bears the name of the water park to which it used to lead.
However, Splashtown closed in 2021 and has been replaced by a car dealership.
Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (D2) has suggested changing the street’s name to Willie Mitchell Drive, after the former Wheatley High School football star who went to two Super Bowls with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Mitchell, 85, told KSAT he “had no idea that that was about to happen."
“And I think if they decide, the people decide to do it, I think is something good, and you got to be respective of that and say ‘thank you’ to them and carry yourself in a way to where you do something real good,” he said.
McKee-Rodriguez said in his request for the name change that District 2 met with neighbors of the United Homeowners Improvement Association and businesses to come up with an “appropriate name that reflects the area and its history,” and nearby neighbors wanted to honor Mitchell.
According to San Antonio Sports, Mitchell is one of the top 50 high school players in San Antonio history.
Mitchell attended and played football at Wheatley High School on the East Side before it was closed in 1970. He joined the Kansas City Chiefs in 1964 as a free agent, according to the team, and was named an all-pro cornerback the following year.
Mitchell helped the Chiefs reach the first-ever American Football League World Championship, now known as the Super Bowl, in 1967 against the inaugural winner, the Green Bay Packers.
He later won his only gridiron ring against the Minnesota Vikings in 1970.
Mitchell also helped start San Antonio Fighting Back, which McKee-Rodriguez’s request describes as an “organization committed to bettering the community with leadership and mentorship.”
Asked by KSAT what he hopes people will remember about him when they see his name on a street sign, Mitchell said, “I hope they remember about me that I’m just another individual like them and I treat them in a real, respectable manner and I have all the respect in the world for them."
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