“The right thing to do”: Cherry Hills Village officially rename Swastika Acres subdivision
“The right thing to do”: Cherry Hills Village officially rename swastika estate subdivision
After 111 years, Cherry Hills Village leadership finally clean the city’s maps of swastika estate, the name of a 56-lot subdivision that has baffled new homeowners and served as an uncomfortable relic of the city’s past.
Starting this week, swastika estate will officially be known as Old Cherry Hills.
“I think it’s important for our community to bring some closure to this issue,” aforementioned council member Dan Sheldon, who spearheaded the renaming effort. “The community has cried out for this to be changed.”
On Tuesday night, city council nem con passed a measure to rename the subdivision.
“It’s the right thing to do,” city manager Russell Stewart aforementioned.
RELATED:swastika estate may finally change its name after 111 years
The swastika estate subdivision was named in 1908 by the Denver swastika Land Co., well before the Nazis co-opted the symbol and forever changed its meaning. At the time, the swastika remained a common sight crosswise the Southwest, used by Native Americans for centuries.
The name “swastika estate” doesn’t appear on any signs in Cherry Hills Village, and realtors haven’t flaunted the name to prospective buyers.
But over a century after its creation, the name has remained on the works of a few dozen homes, despite some side-eyed looks by new homeowners as they signed on the dotted line.
Brady O’Donnell first learned of the swastika estate name in 2014 when he closed on his house.
“It caught you by surprise that this name would still be in existence today,” he aforementioned.
After city council distinct to make swastika estate a priority this year, O’Donnell volunteered to do the grunt work needed to change the name: He collected signatures from plot owners, filed work with the city and shelled out money for the application.
“In light of some of the property going on in Denver and crosswise the country with the swastika symbol,” O’Donnell aforementioned, “this was thing I thought was good for the neighborhood and good for the community.”
He was overwhelmed by support.
“I’ve been stopped-up on the street in the neighborhood,” O’Donnell aforementioned. “People expression, ‘thanks for taking this on.'”
The subdivision’s new name, Old Cherry Hills, was a natural choice, he aforementioned.
“People have loosely referred to this part of town as that anyway,” O’Donnell aforementioned.
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piece the name-change garnered near-universal backing in Cherry Hills Village, one resident believed swastika estate should stay.
“I don’t think you should erase history,” aforementioned Susan Cooper, who comes from a family of Holocaust survivors and who sent a letter stating her opposition to Council. “What would it be like if people denied the Holocaust? You have to get the facts of history.”
For the rest, it’s time to say good riddance to swastika estate.
“This will just reflect the neighborhood in a more positive light,” O’Donnell aforementioned.
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