The first time I heard about Chicano Park, in a history class I was auditing at my local university, I was stunned. The park dates back to the early s, when the Chicano movement for civil rights was in full flower. Mexican Americans were organizing in California, Texas and other states to assert themselves politically and gain community control of their schools, economy and culture. The park came up again the following year when I took a Public Art Muralism course taught by Hector Hernandez and focusing on Chicano and Latino artists.
I vowed to see the park for myself next time I was anywhere near San Diego. That opportunity came a few weeks ago during a visit to see my sister and other relatives in the area.
Art, history and cultural pride all come together in a tangible way on these seven acres underneath the Coronado Bridge, south of downtown San Diego. In the s, the California Department of Transportation built the I-5 freeway through Barrio Logan, demolishing homes and splitting the neighborhood in two. To compensate, residents were promised that the land under the Coronado Bridge would be turned into a park, something the community had wanted for years.
More time went by, but no park appeared. On April 22, , residents learned that the promise had been rescinded and the land would be used for a California Highway Patrol station.
The local community rallied quickly to halt construction. Hundreds of men, women and children converged on the site, forming a human chain around bulldozers. They occupied the space for 12 days, attracting the attention of government officials. Months of negotiation followed as city and state agencies argued questions of land use and ownership. Residents, led by the Chicano Park Steering Committee, kept up pressure. The formation of Chicano Park was signed into law in and mural painting began two years later.
