Ritchie Valens Park Nearer Reality : Recreation: Council votes to rename a Pacoima site for the late singer. Commission must approve the action.

A small park in the heart of the working-class Pacoima neighborhood where he grew up may soon be renamed Ritchie Valens Park to honor the late rock ‘n’ roll legend.

The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously Friday to rename Paxton Park, drawing applause from half a dozen of Valens’ family members and friends who carried a banner and photo of the teen-age rock star. The name change must be approved by the city’s Recreation and Parks Commission.

Born Richard Valenzuela in Pacoima, Valens gained fame in the 1950s before dying at 17 in a 1959 plane crash that also claimed the lives of singers Buddy Holly and B.P. (the Big Bopper) Richardson.

Valens received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1990 after the movie “La Bamba” recounted his life and sparked a resurgence of interest in the musician. The U.S. Postal Service later issued a 29-cent stamp bearing his likeness.

Councilman Richard Alarcon, who represents Pacoima, said he proposed the name change so that children in the northeastern San Fernando Valley neighborhood can remember Valens’ humble background and emulate his accomplishments.

“Ritchie Valens was someone I admired while growing up,” Alarcon said. “He came up against all the odds.”

Francisco Flores, a community activist and friend of Valens’ family, echoed those sentiments.

The park should be renamed “so children can have a role model and shoot for the stars, just like Ritchie did,” he told the council.

Valens rose from obscurity as a teen-age guitar player in Pacoima to gain international attention for such hits as “Come On, Let’s Go” and “Donna,” a love song about his high school sweetheart.

But he will probably be best remembered for “La Bamba,” a rock rendition of a Latino folk dance tune that was on the flip side of “Donna.”

Before the Recreation and Parks Commission votes on the name change, a public hearing on the proposal will be held in Pacoima.

Paxton Park, 24 acres in the shadow of the Simi Valley and Golden State freeways, was named for the street that borders it on the southeast.

The street was named in 1888 for Catherine Paxton Maclay, daughter of Charles Maclay, one of the founders of the city of San Fernando and developer of the Maclay Rancho.