By Edmond Ortiz
The name Durango Boulevard is returning to city street signs.
City Council unanimously voted Aug. 20 to remove the name Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard in favor of the former road name, Durango Boulevard, an action that applies to a busy east-west corridor that runs between Southwest 36th Street on the West Side and South Hackberry Street on the East Side.
What you should know
San Antonio now joins the list of communities that have removed or are removing public tributes to Cesar Chavez, the late United Farm Workers founder. Reports surfaced last March that Chavez allegedly groomed and sexually abused multiple girls who were part of the Latino civil rights movement in the 1970s.
The same reports also contained an allegation from UFW co-founder Dolores Huerta, a noted Latino civil rights champion, that Chavez raped her in 1966.
Several U.S. cities have since renamed roads or are in the process of changing street names, taken down statues, and revoked other public honors that have been made in Chavez’s memory.
San Antonio District 5 Councilmember Teri Castillo filed a council consideration request to begin the formal process of renaming Cesar Chavez Boulevard.
The city over late spring and into the summer held public meetings, notified property owners along Cesar Chavez, and surveyed residents on a new preferred name.
According to city staff, more than 65% of survey results and the majority of public feedback provided a preference for Durango Boulevard as the new street name.
City officials said it will take $374,700 to design and replace all Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard street signs over a two-month period.
The name Durango Boulevard in San Antonio dates back to the late 1800s, as an east-west street stretching through the center of town was named after the Mexican city of Durango. City officials renamed the corridor César E. Chávez Boulevard in July 2011.
What they are saying
Council members such as Castillo said returning the road name to Durango was the right thing to do, as many of her constituents on the traditional West Side still refer to the street as Durango.
According to Castillo, it was also heartening that the public at large quickly supported Huerta and other women who said that Chavez abused them decades ago.
Castillo added that many West Side streets are named after Mexican communities or reflect the city’s Mexican heritage, so it makes sense to return the corridor’s name to Durango.
“The majority of residents who live on Cesar Chavez…made it crystal clear that they want a key historical thoroughfare to reflect the name and a piece of history that they could be proud of,” she said .
”(Durango) is one of the many streets all in close proximity and named after Mexican-American towns, which signified San Antonio’s deep historical, cultural, and economic connection with Mexico.”
