TEMPE — It’s time for change.
That’s what community members told ABC15 while attending the final scheduled meeting for the Streets and Parks Renaming Committee in Tempe.
The community input meeting was held at the Tempe History Museum Wednesday, where the community got to hear new name recommendations for names of several parks and streets in the City of Tempe.
We’ve been following this story since last October, when the Historical Society discovered a few prominent community figures from 100 years ago were tied to the Klu Klux Klan.
Several locations across Tempe had their names on them, including three schools. These schools received name changes in the summer of 2022.
- Gililland Middle School was named Geneva Epps Mosley Middle School
- Hudson Elementary School was named Joseph Spracale Elementary School
- Laird School was named Cecil Shamley School
Currently there are three parks and three street names linked to men who were members of the KKK.
Community members, like Isabel Ruiz, reacted to the potential of having future changes during the meeting.
"I think it's long overdue because some of the names are really ranky and I think it should be after someone...someone who deserves the name to be there," she told ABC15.
Street names with Klan ties include Hudson Drive, Hudson Lane and Laird Street.
And there are also city parks with Klan ties: Hudson, Harrelson and Redden parks.
This was all uncovered by those at the Tempe History museum, which is where Wednesday’s two-hour meeting took place.
It is currently unknown when the committee will have a definitive answer on name changes.
