Parque Urbano Dora Colón Clavell

Passive park in Ponce, Puerto Rico

18°00′29.15″N 66°36′50.04″W / 18.0080972°N 66.6139000°W / 18.0080972; -66.6139000Areaapprox 4 cuerdasCreated1995DesignerWilliam Ramirez Gurratán^[1]Operated byAutonomous Municipality of PonceOpenDailyStatusOpenParkingUnderground parking garage (400 spaces^[2])

Parque Urbano Dora Colón Clavell (English: Dora Colón Clavell Urban Park) is a passive park in Ponce, Puerto Rico.^[3] The park is named after the mother of ex-governor of Puerto Rico and Ponce native, Rafael Hernández Colón.^[4] It opened on 9 December 1995.^[1] The park was designed by Ponce architect Juan Dalmau Sambolín.^[5]

Location

The park is a passive urban family park. It is located in Ponce's Historic District, near several museums and parks, including the Ponce Massacre Museum and the Abolition Park. It features a number of kiosks that open on an as-needed basis (i.e., depending on the function taking place at the park) and a central stage where the Banda Municipal de Ponce stages free open-air concerts.^[6] The location where the park now sits used to be occupied by Hospital Damas before it moved to its current location on Ponce By Pass on 6 May 1973.^[7]^[8]

History

The park was built in 1995 under the administration of mayor Churumba and, in the same year, it received the award for Outstanding Construction Work of the Year (Spanish: "Obra Sobresaliente del Año") from the College of Engineers and Surveyors of Puerto Rico.^[9] It was built with an original appropriation of $5.5 million.^[7] Final cost in December 1995 was $11 million.^[10]

Amenities

The park features gardens, a Mudéjar-style kiosk for the Ponce Municipal Band traditional Sunday concerts, a trolley stop, a restaurant, and food stands.^[11] This Mudéjar-style kiosk is a smaller replica of the one built on Plaza Las Delicias, in 1882, but since demolished, for the town's 1882 Feria-Exposición.^[12] It was designed by José Carlos Villaró, a Spanish architect from Málaga.^[13]

The park also has an underground parking garage with two levels. In the first (top-most) level of the garage there is a Ponce tourist police station.^[14] The parking garage has space for 400 vehicles.^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Fundación Puertorriqueña de las Humanidades. Ponce Ciudad Museo 2001. 2001. p. 67.
^ ^a ^b Municipio de Ponce integra trolley a ruta SITRAS. Voces del Sur. vocesdelsurpr.com 20 October 2016. Accessed 26 January 2017. Archived.
^ "Panoramio is no longer available". www.panoramio.com.
^ "Explore Puerto Rico". Manatee Press. 1 June 2002 – via Google Books.
^ Jose Enrique Ayoroa Santaliz. Un hito en su tiempo: la fuente de agua subterránea de la Plaza Las Delicias. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Year 39. Issue 1993. 9-15 February 2022. pp.8-9. Archived.
^ Dora Colón Clavell Urban Park. Let'sGoToPonce.com Retrieved 25 April 2010.
^ ^a ^b Carmelo Rosario Natal. Ponce En Su Historia Moderna: 1945-2002. Published by Secretaría de Cultura y Turismo of the Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 2003. p. 253.
^ Nuestra Historia.^{[permanent dead link]} Hospital Damas. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
^ Act No. 256 (H. B. 2988) of the 7th Session of the 15th Legislature of Puerto Rico. Retrieved 25 April 2010. Archived.
^ Dora Colon Clavell Urban Park. TravelPonce.com. Accessed 112 February 2022. Archived.
^ Plaza Del Caribe Tourism information. Archived 2010-04-23 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 25 April 2010.
^ Jose Enrique Ayoroa Santaliz. Un hito en su tiempo: la fuente de agua subterránea de la Plaza Las Delicias. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Year 39. Issue 1993. 9-15 February 2022. pp.8-9.
^ Dora Colon Clavell Urban Park. TravelPonce.com. Accessed 112 February 2022. Archived.
^ Free Municipal Parking Lot. LetsGo: Destinations, Ponce. Archived 2010-12-04 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 25 April 2010.