By Joe Contreras, Photos by Michelle Stevinson, Latin Life Denver Media. (See Photo Gallery Below)

Thousands upon thousands of people came out celebrate the 55th anniversary of the founding of Chicano Park in San Diego Saturday April 19, 2025. Proud Latino culture and heritage was in the air represented by indigenous and folkloric dancers, lowriders, food and live music and more than 100 murals all commemorating the efforts it took to make this park a reality.

Why does a relatively small 7.9 acre park constructed under the pillars of the Coronado Bay Bridge in San Diego mean so much to so many people across the country including here in Denver? In contrast, Denver’s Washington Park occupies 160 acres and La Raza Park in North Denver takes up one city block. 2.2 acres. Like Chicano Park in San Diego, La Raza Park Denver has its origin in social and political struggle for self determination and recognition.

Located in San Diego’s Logan Heights neighborhood the thriving park which is now a National Historic Landmark once was stage for a historic people’s movement that triumphed over political and economic powers that sought to destroy their community with no regard for the people who lived there.

Once home to 70 thousand Mexican and Mexican American residents, the neighborhood was cut in half In the 1960s when the California Department of Transportation built the I-5 freeway through the area, demolishing homes and splitting the neighborhood in two and taking away the beach area which residents had long enjoyed. 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. Instead of a park, the land underneath the bridge was turned into a junk yard and later a California Highway Patrol station was slated to be built on the site instead.

When bulldozers showed up to begin construction of the patrol station, Logan Heights residents had had enough of the betrayal and neglect. Hundreds of residents, students and supporters quickly amassed, organized and took over the construction site and it’s bulldozers. They used the equipment to plow the land into a park, planting various cactus and other shrubs. For twelve days they occupied the area, day and night. Police and politicians were at a loss as to how to handle the situation. The “All the Way to the Bay” campaign asserted the right of Barrio Logan residents to have access to the bay and to extend Chicano Park all the way to the waterfront.

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 artist Salvador Torres proposed to transform the bridge’s massive concrete pylons into a towering canvas for expression in the spirit of the Mexican Mural Movement.

The formation of Chicano Park was signed into law in 1971 and mural painting began two years later. At first it was an exuberant, unconstrained explosion of color, as hundreds of people “attacked the wall with rollers,” according to Torres. He, together with many local artists, including Guillermo Aranda, Yolanda Lopez and Victor Ochoa, and groups such as Toltecas en Aztlan and Congresso de Artistas Chicanos en Aztlan, continued to guide the aesthetic development. As years passed, more artists from across California were invited to contribute, producing a range of Pre-Colombian, colonial, modern and contemporary imagery.

In 2011 and 2012, almost two dozen murals were restored with federal funding. Many of the original artists did the work themselves, aided by friends and family. The restoration received a Grand Orchid award from the San Diego Architectural Foundation, which called the revitalized project “stunning.” It also received recognition from the California Office of Historic Preservation, Save Our Heritage Organisation and the San Diego City Council and Mayor.

The Chicano Park Steering Committee maintains a map of the murals on their website, along with details about the artwork and Chicano Park Day. The free, annual family-friendly celebration features beautiful costumes and cultural pride of performers like Danza Azteca Calpulli Mexihca, along with live bands, a lowrider car show, art workshops for kids, and food and craft vendors.

Chicano Park is the geographic and emotional heart of Barrio Logan, located in Logan Heights, San Diego’s oldest Mexican-American neighborhood. The park is home to the largest concentration of Chicano murals in the world, with more than 100 paintings on 7.9 acres dotted with sculpture, gardens, picnic tables and playgrounds. Throughout the year, it hosts festivals of music and Aztec dance, the biggest being Chicano Park Day — held each April on the Saturday closest to April 22, the date of the park’s beginnings. Additionally, Chicano Park is the hub of an emerging arts district, with galleries, boutiques, brew pubs and craft coffee shops nearby.

Chicano Park is best seen in the daylight to appreciate the vibrant color of the murals, but the surrounding area has nighttime offerings too. As with all urban parks, use common sense when it comes to safety after dark. Enjoy a beer and dinner at local favorites. Catch an art opening at La Bodega Gallery, Chicano Art Gallery or CM Curatorial; and browse the works of local artists and authors in the shops along Logan Avenue between South Evans Street and Sampson Street.

After six years of planning, the Chicano Park Museum finally opened in 2022, celebrating the park and all the artists who have made it such a vibrant place. The museum also functions as a community center and as well as the base for the nonprofit Turning Wheel Project.

The importance of Chicano Park to San Diego is best summed up by the late Ramon “Chunky” Sanchez, much-loved activist, musician and creator of the heartfelt anthem, “Chicano Park Samba”: “There’s an energy there that’s hard to describe—when you see your people struggling for something positive, it’s very inspiring. The park was brought about by sacrifice and it demonstrates what a community can do when they stick together and make it happen.

Photos by Michelle Stevinson, Latin Life Denver Media, (click on any image to enlarge)