City Votes to Rename Park After Rock Legend : Community: Family and friends of the late Ritchie Valens cheer the plan to honor the hometown hero.

A small park in the heart of a working-class neighborhood here where Richard Valenzuela grew up may soon be renamed to honor the rock ‘n’ roll legend that the boy became.

The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously Friday to rename Paxton Park “Ritchie Valens Park,” drawing applause from half a dozen of Valens’ family members and friends who carried a banner and photo of the teen rock star.

Born Richard Valenzuela in Pacoima, Valens gained fame in the 1950s but died at age 17 along with Buddy Holly in a 1959 plane crash that is still considered one of the greatest single tragedies in popular music history.

The name change must still be approved in the next few months by the city’s Recreation and Parks Commission. But that did not diminish the enthusiasm of Valens’ family and friends after the council’s vote.

“It’s such happiness,” said Ernestine Reyes, an aunt of Valens who was clutching a photo of the smiling rock singer. She attended the meeting with her sister, Pauline Lozano, and Valens’ sister-in-law, Rosie Morales, and a handful of other friends.

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 young musician. A few years later the Postal Service 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 could 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 become internationally known 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 to change the park’s name, the panel will schedule a hearing in Pacoima to take public testimony and hear any possible arguments against the idea.

Paxton Park, a 24-acre park in the shadow of the Simi Valley and Golden State freeways, was named for the street that borders the park on the southeast side.

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

If the name change is approved, a new recreation center that is scheduled to open at the park in June will be named Ritchie Valens Community Center.

The recreation center will include a preschool, a gym, a stage and sound system, and possibly a day-care facility.

City officials are developing plans to either erect a statue or paint a mural at the recreation center in honor of Valens.