City Council approved to rename the lingering Splashtown Drive name on Thursday to honor an East Side NFL player five years after the waterpark shuttered.
District 2 City Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez filed a request to rename Splashtown Drive after NFL legend Willie Mitchell back in April.
Splashtown, which closed in September 2021, was a water park that opened in San Antonio as Waterpark USA in 1985. The former park property adjacent to Splashtown Drive has been redeveloped into a car dealership, yet the street name remains.
McKee-Rodriguez’s April request stated that District 2 met with neighbors and businesses and decided on Willie Mitchell Drive to represent an “appropriate name that reflects the area and its history.”
“Willie Mitchell is one of San Antonio’s most outstanding homegrown talents,” McKee-Rodriguez said. “We honor him and his legacy by adding his name to a street in the very community who shaped, supported and watched him win an NFL championship.”
According to San Antonio Sports, Willie Mitchell is one of the top 50 high school players in San Antonio history.
Mitchell attended and played football at Wheatley High School on the East Side before it was closed in 1970. He was drafted to the Kansas City Chiefs in 1964 and was named an all-pro cornerback the following year.
Mitchell helped the Chiefs reach the first-ever American Football League World Championship, now known as the Super Bowl, in 1967 against the inaugural winner, the Green Bay Packers.
He later won his only gridiron ring against the Minnesota Vikings in 1970.
After eight seasons with the Chiefs, he was traded to the Houston Oilers, where he had career-ending knee surgery, forcing him to retire.
McKee-Rodriguez stated that Mitchell is a pillar of the East Side community and that the designation would reflect his contributions.
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