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.
Retrieved 30 November 2009. ''Recuerdan en Ponce al León Mayor.'' Periodico La Perla del Sur.
/ref> It is located in barrio Bucaná,

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 ...

, on the banks of the Bucaná 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 an extremely powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that affected the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, which accounted for 2,975 of the 3,059 deaths. It is the ...

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

Location

The park is located in

barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city delimited by functional (e.g. residential, comm ...

Bucana, at the merging of Rio Portugues and Rio Bucana, off PR-2 (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. It initially consisted of of land and lakes. It was subsequently expanded to . It opened in 1994 under the administration of mayor Rafael Cordero Santiago''Parque Julio Enrique Monagas.''
Retrieved 15 February 2014. and was considerably enlarged in October 2008 under the administration of mayor Francisco Zayas Seijo. It was built during the administration of Mayor Rafael Cordero Santiago. 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 The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: #The Engineer Regiment, Engineer Regiment, military constr ...

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, Complejo Recreativo de La Guancha, Centro Ceremonial Indígena de Tibes, Plaza del Mercado Isabel II, 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.''Parque Julio Enrique Monagas.'' Travel & Sport: Puerto Rico
Retrieved 30 November 2009.

References

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