Luis Muñoz Rivera Park
Encyclopedia
The Luis Muñoz Rivera Park (or Parque Luis Muñoz Rivera in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

) is a 27.2 acre (110,000 m²) recreational park located in Puerta de Tierra in San Juan
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...

, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

. The park was named in honor of Puerto Rican
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

 statesman Luis Muñoz Rivera
Luis Muñoz Rivera
Luis Muñoz Rivera was a Puerto Rican poet, journalist and politician. He was a major figure in the struggle for political autonomy of Puerto Rico....

.

History

In 1919, land was set aside to create a large recreational park for the residents of San Juan
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...

. The land that was set aside once formed part of the third line of defense for the city during the 17th and 16th century. The powder house built in 1769 (“El Polvorín”) which supplied Fort San Jeronimo
Fort San Jerónimo
Fortín de San Gerónimo del Boquerón is a small fort located in the entrance to what is known today as the Condado Lagoon which faces the historic town of Miramar in San Juan, Puerto Rico....

 is still located on the grounds of the park.

The east side of the park is bordered by the Puerto Rican Supreme Court building designed by architects Toro Ferrer. To the north lies the public beach called "Escambron", the Parque del Tercer Milenio and the Sixto Escobar
Sixto Escobar
Sixto Escobar was a Puerto Rican professional boxer. Competing in the bantamweight division, he became Puerto Rico's first world champion....

 stadium, former home of the San Juan Senators and Santurce Crabbers
Santurce Crabbers
Cangrejeros de Santurce, Spanish for "Santurce Crabbers", refers to several teams based in San Juan, Puerto Rico:* Cangrejeros de Santurce , baseball team of the Puerto Rico Baseball League...

 baseball clubs.

The park was designed by Bennett, Parsons & Frost
Edward H. Bennett
Edward Herbert Bennett was an architect and city planner best known for his co-authorship of the 1909 Plan of Chicago.-Biography:Bennett was born in Bristol, England in 1874, and later moved to San Francisco with his family...

 of Chicago in 1924. Construction began four years later in 1928. The park was restored by architects Otto Reyes Casanova in 1990, and by Andres Mignucci
Andres Mignucci
Andrés Mignucci FAIA is a Puerto Rican architect and urbanist. His work has received recognition for its integration of the disciplines of architecture, urban design and landscape architecture in the creation of public spaces with a sense of place, human scale, and environmental responsibility...

, FAIA in 2003.

External links

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