Lansing committee backs $25,000 for Old Town businesses if Cesar E. Chavez Avenue is renamed

LANSING, Mich. — Lansing has not decided whether to take Cesar Chavez’s name off the main street through Old Town. A City Council committee already wants taxpayers to help businesses there if it does.

The council’s Committee on City Operations last week approved a proposed $25,000 reimbursement fund as a budget priority, WILX reported. The proposal now goes to the mayor’s office, which will consider whether to include it in the upcoming budget.

About 30 businesses on Cesar E. Chavez Avenue could qualify, with payments averaging roughly $1,600 and topping out near $5,000, James Lenon, executive director of the Old Town Commercial Association, told the station. The money would cover the costs of an address change: reprinted business cards, letterhead and other materials, and notices to vendors. Some businesses deal with thousands of vendors, Lenon said.

For some owners, it would be the second change in less than a decade. The street was Grand River Avenue until the city renamed it for the United Farm Workers founder, WKAR reported. Bradly Rakowski, who owns Bradly’s HG on the avenue, told WILX that the last change brought logistical problems, including his shop not showing up on Google Maps. He welcomed the reimbursement but said, “It’s still a mess.” Rakowski suggested a name that does not honor a person, such as Rio Grande Avenue.

The renaming debate began in March, after allegations of child sexual abuse involving Chavez, who died in 1993, became public, according to WKAR. A council member drafted a resolution to rename the avenue that spring, but it was never formally introduced, and the committee tabled the idea before reopening it in July.

The committee said in July it would take a slower approach and review the question quarterly. Council member Ryan Kost told WKAR in July that businesses on the corridor had warned that timing matters, because “businesses live or die by the holiday season.” The committee is scheduled to take up the avenue again at its Oct. 22 meeting.

Sources:
WILX, “Lansing weighs aid for Old Town businesses amid possible street name change,” Oct. 7, 2026, https://www.wilx.com/2026/10/08/lansing-weighs-aid-old-town-businesses-amid-possible-street-name-change/
WKAR Public Media, “Lansing revives debate over Cesar Chavez Avenue renaming,” July 28, 2026, https://www.wkar.org/wkar-news/2026-07-28/lansing-revives-debate-over-cesar-chavez-avenue-renaming
Photo: Tony Webster, “Temple Lofts - 502 E César E. Chávez Avenue - Lansing - Michigan (52954167553),” Jan. 9, 2023, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), cropped and color-corrected, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Temple_Lofts_-_502_E_C%C3%A9sar_E._Ch%C3%A1vez_Avenue_-_Lansing_-_Michigan_(52954167553).jpg

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