The Urban Ecological Park (
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
: ''Parque Ecológico Urbano''), also known as the Ponce Ecological Park (Spanish: ''Parque Ecológico de Ponce''), is a passive park in
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Ponce ( , , ) is a city and a Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The most populated city outside the San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan metropolitan area, Ponce was founded on August 12, 1692Some publ ...
. The park was designed by Bonin Orozco Arquitectos and was inaugurated on 19 September 2012. The park is unique in that it was designed to create a "green lung" in the city by using ecological mindset in its entirety, from the construction materials used to the design and other areas as well. Except for one tree that got relocated within the project, the new park made use of all the existing trees and shrubs as they existed on the site prior to the development of the park.
History
Design of the park was by Bonnin Orozco Arquitectos. The municipality started construction on 10 March 2010. By February 2012, 46% of the construction had been completed. It was scheduled to open in August 2012, and the inauguration date was set for 24 August 2012, but due to
Hurricane Isaac The name Isaac (or the variant Isaack) has been used for six tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean and for one in the South Pacific Ocean, and has been used for one extratropical european windstorm.
In the Atlantic:
* Tropical Storm Isaac (1988) ...
that week, it was postponed several weeks. The park was finally inaugurated on 19 September 2012. It was inaugurated with the animation of various artists including
Dagmar,
Glenn Monroig
Glenn Monroig (born April 22, 1957) is a Puerto Rican composer, guitarist, and singer of various types of music styles, such as salsa, boleros and rumba. He is credited with having recorded the first rap song in Spanish.
Biography
Early years
M ...
,
Jackeline Capó and
Ángel ‘Cuco’ Peña.
Cost
The initial cost of the park is $4.5 million. The park will link to, but it is different from, another park also currently under construction called ''
Parque Lineal Veredas del Labrador''. In addition, there are plans to extend Parque Ecologico southward to connect to
Parque de la Ceiba.
Features
The park will have an
amphitheater
An amphitheatre ( U.S. English: amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meaning "place for vie ...
with room for 672 people, a waving path, two pavilions for exhibitions, and a 466-feet artificial river. The park will link to Parque Lineal Veredas del Labrador and to
Parque Julio Enrique Monagas.
Signature project
Parque Ecológico Urbano is a project of Ponce Mayor
María Meléndez Altieri. She has called the construction of the park one of the five "signature" projects of her administration.
[ El Sur a la Vista. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 20 September 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2011.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parque Ecologico Urbano
Buildings and structures in Ponce, Puerto Rico
Urban public parks
Parks in Ponce, Puerto Rico
Buildings and structures completed in 2012
Parks established in the 2010s
Protected areas established in 2012
2012 establishments in Puerto Rico
Tourist attractions in Ponce, Puerto Rico