Officials in Tucson are asking members of the public to weigh in on a proposal to rename the city’s Christopher Columbus Park. Tucsonans head to Christopher Columbus Park to bird watch and fish in Silverbell Lake. It was called Silverbell Park up until the 1990s, when it was renamed by the local Knights of Columbus chapter.

Now locals want to rename the park again — this time after Danny Lopez, a celebrated Tohono O’odham elder and cultural educator who died in 2008. Azul Navarrete-Valera says the effort began in 2020, when she and other members of Tucson Native Youth Council were approached by Tucson Councilmember Lane Santa Cruz’s office and asked to help rename the site.