After more than a month of debate, the Austin City Council voted 5-2 to change the name of Arena Drive to Shore District Drive. Both Councilwomen Kathie Tovo and Laura Morrison voted against the name change.

"There is not, as far as I've heard, a compelling public purpose for changing a name that has been in place for decades, and I think the community has a right to expect that these names, which give their place significance, will remain unless there is a public purpose to change it," Tovo said.

John Donisi of Winstead Attorneys, which was representing Grayco Partners, which initiated the name change, said he considered the name change critical to South Shore District development.

"It was important to us in terms of neighborhood enhancement because it tied the location to the lake and to the waterfront," Donisi said.

The name change is also a part of the South Shore District development project to tie the commercial development with the street, city staff said at an October council meeting. The development at East Riverside Drive and South Lakeshore Boulevard is about 25.38 acres and has a maximum development of 1,200 apartment units, 87,000-square feet of retail space and 10,000-square feet of restaurant space.

Councilman Bill Spelman said he would agree with Tovo about the keeping the name Arena Drive if there were any objections from the property owners on the street. The two property owners that would be affected by the name change have agreed to the change, but one of the property owners is the applicant.

During a Nov. 8 council meeting, city staff told the council they weren't able to confirm any historical significance to the name, though a few public speakers offered some possible historical context for the name and expressed their desire to keep the name Arena Drive.

"It contributes to my neighborhood's sense of place," said Toni House, a member of the East Riverside Oltorf Combined Neighborhood contact team who spoke to the council at the Nov. 8 meeting. "It's like an old friend. I don't know how Arena got its name, but what I do know is that Arena has been part of the nomenclature of our part of town for [at least] 53 years, and that it's located in a historically significant area."

Donisi said the applicant would have a professional historian research the area and provide the information to the Austin History Center, as well as incorporate the information into a plaque that would be in a public plaza at the site.