CHULA VISTA, Calif. — A local park gets a new name and a fresh start. The Chula Vista City Council voted Tuesday night to rename Discovery Park to the Kumeyaay Park of Chula Vista, highlighting the native Americans who lived in San Diego County before Christopher Columbus arrived.
"In my opinion it's a fair thing," said Chula Vista resident Chris Snyder. "I think it's just to bring back some of the history that was real before."
The park's renaming comes two years after the city removed an often-vandalized statue of Columbus on the outskirts of the park on Buena Vista Way.
Officials first pulled the statue when protests erupted in the summer of 2020, as many Native Americans argued Columbus symbols colonial rule and oppression of indigenous cultures.
The statue was permanently banned last year. Tuesday night, officials voted for it to stay in storage.
Snyder has lived in the area for 15 years but hadn't heard of the Kumeyaay Native Americans until this week.
"Everybody knows about Cristobal Colon, you know. We read about it in history books, we know the story," said Snyder. "But we don't really know too much of what happened before, who was here before." 2:30
Now the Chula Vista City Council plans to put a plaque in place of the statue, educating the community about the people who lived in the area before Europeans arrived.
"I think it's controversial but it's fair," said Snyder. "I think a lot of these subjects have been underground, under the table. I think it affects everyone."
