What will Cesar Chavez Park be renamed? Modesto narrows list to 3 options
Ideas for Cesar E. Chavez Park’s new name have been narrowed down to three options: Fourth Street Park, Sí Se Puede Park and Farmworkers Park.
Modesto’s Culture Commission unanimously approved on Wednesday to recommend these suggestions to the City Council for consideration. The council will deliberate and decide on the new name at a future council meeting.
Efforts to rename the park were prompted by a years-long New York Times investigation that accused Chavez of sexually abusing children and raping his United Farm Workers co-founder and civil rights icon, Dolores Huerta.
The city then created a form to collect input from the community, which garnered 474 responses.
The majority of the commissioners backed “Fourth Street Park” and “Sí Se Puede Park” — the former for its geographic neutrality and familiarity and the latter for its grounding in the Latino community and farmworkers movement.
“Fourth Street is the one that seems closest to our actual city’s history … and includes everybody broadly,” said Chair Jennifer Valenzuela. Valenzuela is also running for Stanislaus County supervisor, District 4.
Commissioner Dominique Johnson said that while “Fourth Street Park” reflects the past, “Sí Se Puede Park” activates the future.
According to city staff, the park never was named Fourth Street Park, but rather West Side Park. It colloquially became known as Fourth Street Park among residents before it was named after Chavez in 2002.
Commissioner Abigail Power said “Farmworkers Park” is consistent with how the state is choosing to replace Chavez’s name.
Gov. Gavin Newsom recently declared March 31, Chavez’s birthday, as Farmworkers Day.
Another idea floated was to name the park after Huerta, though there was a hesitancy among the commission to honor people in case this process needs to happen again.
The park is undergoing a $17.1 million renovation that is planned to wrap up this summer. Once a name is chosen, the park’s sign will be replaced.
