Parque Familiar Julio Enrique Monagas (English: ''Julio Enrique Monagas Family Park'') is Puerto Rico's largest passive park.''Largest Family Park to Open in Ponce, Puerto Rico.'' Let's Go to Ponce: Insider's Guide to South Puerto Rico.
etrieved 30 November 2009. It is located in barrio

Bucaná Bucaná is one of the 31 barrios of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Together with Canas, Playa, Vayas, and Capitanejo, Bucaná is one of the municipality's five coastal barrios. The name of this barrio is of native Indian origin. I ...

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce (, , , ) is both a city and a municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government. Ponce, Puerto Rico's most populated city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, was founded on 12 August 1 ...

, on the banks of the

and Portugués rivers. The park was named after Julio Enrique Monagas, "the father of Puerto Rican Olympic sports". In November 2017, the park was severely damaged by

Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was a deadly Category 5 hurricane that devastated the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly Dominica, Saint Croix, and Puerto Rico. It is regarded as the worst natural disaster in recorded history to affect ...

and, as of today (January 2021), remains closed.

Location

The park is located in barrio Bucana, at the merging of Rio Portugues and

Rio Bucana Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

, off

PR-2 Puerto Rico Highway 2 (PR-2) is a road in Puerto Rico that connects the cities of San Juan and Ponce. At 156 miles (230 km) long, it is Puerto Rico's longest singled-signed highway. The road runs counter-clockwise from San Juan to Ponce. ...

(Ponce By-pass). The park was built at a cost of over $3 million.

History

The park was created under the administration of Ponce mayor

Rafael Cordero Santiago Rafael Cordero Santiago (24 October 1942 – 17 January 2004), better known as "Churumba", was the Mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico, Ponce, Puerto Rico, from 1989 to 2004. Many considered him as a synonym of Ponce, being baptized as "El León Mayor ...

. It initially consisted of of land and lakes. It was subsequently expanded to . It opened in 1994 under the administration of mayor

and was considerably enlarged in October 2008 under the administration of mayor

Francisco Zayas Seijo Francisco R. Zayas Seijo, also known as Ico (born 4 October 1951), is a former member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives and mayor of the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. During his 4-year mayoral term, Zayas Seijo established the Mariana ...

. It was built during the administration of Mayor

. At the moment of its inauguration in 1994, it was the largest passive park in the Caribbean. The park was severely damaged by

in September 2017 and, as of November 2019, remained closed. In April 2019 the

USACE , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

removed debris and, upon completion, the Government of the Municipality of Ponce proceeded to perform cleanup activities. In late September 2019, mayor Mayita announced the allocation of $3.9 USD million for the reconstruction of the park. The funds, however, were to be shared with reconstruction of

Teatro La Perla Teatro La Perla is a historic theater in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Inaugurated in 1864, it is the second oldest theater of its kind in Puerto Rico, but "the largest and most historic in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean." The theater was name ...

Complejo Recreativo de La Guancha The Complejo Recreativo y Cultural La Guancha (English: ''La Guancha Recreational and Cultural Complex'') is a recreational complex in barrio Playa in Ponce, Puerto Rico, with family recreational and cultural facilities that opened on 23 June ...

Centro Ceremonial Indígena de Tibes Centro may refer to: Places Brazil *Centro, Santa Maria, a neighborhood in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * Centro, Porto Alegre, a neighborhood of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * Centro (Duque de Caxias), a neighborhood of Du ...

Plaza del Mercado Isabel II Plaza del Mercado de Ponce (English: Ponce Market Plaza) or, formally, Plaza del Mercado Isabel Segunda (often abbreviated as Plaza del Mercado Isabel II), is a historic marketplace building in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It was inaugurated in 1863 by P ...

, and ''Complejo Acuático Víctor Vasallo''.

Amenities

The family-oriented park had paddle boats, picnic areas with gazebos, exotic birds, skate park and various playgrounds for children and a

Ridable miniature railway A ridable miniature railway (US: riding railroad or grand scale railroad) is a large scale, usually ground-level railway that hauls passengers using locomotives that are often models of full-sized railway locomotives (powered by diesel or petrol ...

.''Parque Julio Enrique Monagas.'' Travel & Sport: Puerto Rico
Retrieved 30 November 2009.

References

{{Reflist Urban public parks Parks in Ponce, Puerto Rico 2008 in Puerto Rico Tourist attractions in Ponce, Puerto Rico Protected areas established in 1994 1994 establishments in Puerto Rico Barrio Bucaná