Cesar Chavez Parkway will be renamed Chicano Park Boulevard in honor of San Diego landmark

Maura Fox, The San Diego Union-Tribune on May 13, 2026

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SAN DIEGO — The San Diego City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to rename Cesar Chavez Parkway, two months after shocking allegations of sexual abuse surfaced against the late labor leader.

The 0.8-mile-long street in Barrio Logan will now be named Chicano Park Boulevard to honor the historic and cultural significance of Chicano Park — home to more than 100 murals that depict messages and images of strength, struggle and community in Indigenous, Mexican and Mexican American history.

The council also voted to rename Cesar Chavez Day to Farmworkers Day in the city’s municipal code, a change that’s already taken place at the state level. The motions passed 8-0, with Councilmember Raul Campillo absent.

A New York Times investigation published in March found allegations that Chavez had for years sexually abused young girls and raped union co-leader Dolores Huerta.

The revelations shocked San Diego’s political leaders and Latino community and led to efforts to cancel events planned in his honor, as well as rename institutions and landmarks, including Cesar Chavez Parkway, which runs from Commercial Street heading southwest to Crosby Road.

“It’s important that we take these matters seriously and ensure that the names of our public spaces reflect the values we uphold as a city,” said District 8 Councilmember Vivian Moreno when the street name change was proposed for a first reading at the council last month.

Chavez, who helped secure rights and fair wages for farm workers in the 1960s and ’70s, and his name and influence are inescapable in California. In San Diego County alone, Chavez’s namesakes included a park, a recreation center and multiple schools.

Days after the allegations came to light, Mayor Todd Gloria directed city departments to work to remove references to Cesar Chavez from city facilities, programs and public assets.

The San Diego Unified School District started the process to remove his name from Cesar Chavez Elementary School.

And the former Cesar Chavez Day, a state holiday celebrated on March 31, was renamed to Farmworkers Day to honor the collective fight for fair wages and working conditions for agricultural workers in the U.S.

The Chicano Park Steering Committee, Barrio Logan Association and Barrio Logan Planning Group were consulted on the street name change to Chicano Park Boulevard.

Established in 1970, Chicano Park is a result of collective community activism. It is located beneath Interstate 5 and the on-ramps for the San Diego-Coronado Bridge — construction for which cut the Logan Heights neighborhood in half, resulting in both Logan Heights and Barrio Logan.

The attempted construction of a highway patrol station in the area in 1970 sparked an organizing effort by residents and Chicano activists, who protested the development. They occupied the park for 12 days until an agreement was reached between the community, state officials and the city of San Diego to support the creation of a community park.

Today, Chicano Park hosts the annual Chicano Park Day celebration and has over 100 murals from Chicano artists painted on the freeway pillars. In 2016, it was designated as a National Historic Landmark.

“Names matter. They carry the story of a place and the people who fought for it,” Tonantzin “Cina” Sánchez, vice chair of the Chicano Park Steering Committee, said at the council meeting last month.

“Renaming Cesar Chavez Parkway to Chicano Park Boulevard recognizes the movement that was born in Barrio Logan/Logan Heights, the struggle… and the collective determination that created one of the most important cultural landmarks, not only in this country, but I believe throughout the whole world,” she added.

Renaming the street will include replacing street signs at multiple intersections, which the city anticipates will cost an estimated $15,400, funded by the Transportation Department’s operating budget under the general fund.