The Cesar Chavez Center may become the Eastside Community Center after recent sexual abuse allegations against the former labor rights activist prompted calls for a name change.
The Parks and Recreation Commission voted 5-2 on Monday to recommend the new name to the City Council.
The recommendation follows months of community outreach prompted by sexual abuse allegations against Chávez. The City Council has final authority over any name change.
The center, at 2060 University Ave., is undergoing renovations and is expected to reopen in spring 2027. Staff hopes to have a naming decision by January or February so updated signage can be incorporated before reopening.
The debate centered on two options: Eastside, reflecting the surrounding neighborhood, and University Heights, recalling the building’s original use as University Heights Junior High School.
The school opened in 1928 on the site of a former orange grove, Deputy Director Noemi Lopez told commissioners. Riverside purchased the property in 1976 for a neighborhood park and later named the community center for Chávez.
Staff recommended University Heights based on the site’s history, community feedback and city naming policy.
Commissioner Thomas Forbes said Monday that residents at the first community input meeting -- which had a bigger turnout -- seemed to favor the name "University Heights Community Center," while the second comcmunity input meeting favored "Eastside Community Center."
"When I look at the data as I read it and thinking back on what I saw and felt in the room, I think that if I were to make a motion, it would be on University Heights," Forbes said.
At the meeting, Commissioner Oz Puerta said when thinking of identity, Eastside Community Center "resonates a lot more."
"I think people from the Eastside, they recognize...how some areas are weighed against another," Puerta said. "I grew up being asked, 'Where are you from? Arlanza, Casablanca, Eastside.' This is how Riverside knows its locations. I think it would speak to that neighborhood and that community better to name it the Eastside Community Center."
Art Alcaraz, a former Latino Network president who helped facilitate the public listening sessions, described growing up across the street and attending after-school and summer programs there.
“Just hearing all the comments that we’re sharing, I really felt a lot of Eastside pride those days,” Alcaraz said.
The city’s outreach included two listening sessions July 30 and Aug. 1, attended by more than 50 people combined, along with surveys and outreach to neighborhood groups, community organizations and facility users.
About 75% of respondents to a survey question supported exploring an updated name, while 22% favored retaining the Chávez name, according to the staff report. Participation was voluntary, and the results were not statistically representative of Riverside residents.
University Heights was the most frequently suggested replacement in the survey’s open-ended responses, appearing in 26 of 265 responses. Eastside or East Riverside variants received 21 mentions, and Dolores Huerta received 20. The survey did not establish a clear communitywide preference for one replacement.
City policy bars naming a recreation facility for one individual if it already honors another. Staff instead proposed exploring separate ways to recognize people who have contributed to the Eastside.
Commissioner Kevin Dawson said he wanted residents to have another opportunity to choose between Eastside and University Heights before the commission recommended a specific name.
“I would very much rather have the community make the choice between one or the other,” Dawson said. “I don’t want to stake out a position on either name.”
Dawson opposed the motion recommending Eastside. City staff clarified that forwarding a recommendation would not prevent the council from seeking additional community input.
The review began in March, when Riverside pulled a planned César Chávez Day proclamation and Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson called for community input on facilities and monuments bearing his name.