Photo By Emily Esparza / Staff
Mario Solis could not believe his eyes on the morning of April 22, 1970 while walking to San Diego City College. Bulldozers were flattening ground underneath the brand new Coronado Bridge on land promised to the Logan Heights community for a park.
“What are you guys gonna do?” he recalled asking construction workers.
“Building a parking lot for a Highway Patrol station,” answered one of the crew.
!Chale!
Solis ran to City College and barged into a Chicano Studies class taught by Gil Robledo.
!Ya basta!
Rico Bueno, Josie Talamantez and David Rico “went on red alert,” according to an account published by the Chicano Park Steering Committee. Bueno, a Vietnam veteran, sent classmates to other schools and neighborhoods to rally under the bridge. Solis climbed aboard a bulldozer and started flattening the land as others planted trees and cactus, the first landscaping of the nascent Chicano Park.
SDPD arrived and asked who was in charge. It was “Spartacus” in reverse. When police approached, activists pointed randomly to others. There was no violence, but there was resolve – notably from Jose Gomez.
“The only way to take that park away is to wade through our blood,” he said.
SDPD officer Al Puente, who had the Barrio Logan beat, warned his superiors against attacking the park lest women and children be killed or injured. Protesters were calm, but red-hot angry, according to Gomez.
“We are ready to die for the park!” artist Salvador “Queso” Torres shouted to a gathering of city and state officials.
Gomez agreed.
“Our community had already been invaded by junkyards, factories and a bridge built through our barrio,” he said. “Some of us decided it was time to put a stop to the destruction and begin to make this place more livable.”
Supporters poured in from around the region and the nation. The occupation of the park rolled on for 12 days. After some saber rattling and threats of imprisonment, San Diego city officials relented and agreed to buy the land from the state to establish a park.
One of the best ways to learn the history of the park is to listen to Ramon “Chunky” Sanchez and Los Alacranes Mojados perform their song “Chicano Park Samba.”
“A park where all the chavalitos could play so they wouldn’t have to play in the street and get run over by a car,” sang Chunky, the favorite troubadour of Cesar Chavez. “¡¡¡Órale Raza, Vamos al Parque!!!”
