Northsiders celebrated the reopening of La Raza Park over the weekend, ending months of waiting while the beloved park was fenced off for renovations.
Performers with Grupo Tlaloc Danza Azteca marked the occasion on Friday, cleansing the air, soil and visitors with traditional dance as officials marked the opening of a new basketball court and playground.
The new jungle gym was directly inspired by Grupo Tlaloc, Denver Parks and Recreation said in an Instagram post: It’s adorned with dragonflies, which filled the air here in 2021 when the group performed to celebrate the official changing of the park’s name from Columbus to La Raza.
A crowd gathered to watch them dance for the reopening. Among them was Mary Helen Sandoval, who said her daughters practically grew up at the park. They swam in the pool, before it was shut down by police in the 1980s and ultimately razed. They learned to French braid their hair here. It was where they came to find community and organize for causes important to them.
“It was just a wonderful gathering place,” she said. “Everybody from the neighborhood came here with their swimsuits, just like we did.”
One of her daughters, Amanda Sandoval, is now president of the Denver City Council, who was there on Friday. Many others filled the park the next day as drivers in the neighborhood’s annual lowrider Chicano Pride Ride prepared to set off on a cruise.
The recent project included rebuilding the playground to fit the history-forward aesthetic of the rest of the park. The park also got an upgraded basketball court and picnic areas, ADA-compliant pathways, native landscaping, and a new irrigation system. The city spent about $2 million on the renovations, using money from previous bond measures and capital improvement funds.
The changes to the park were a small update, compared to decades-long battles to preserve the cultural history of this space and change the name. But Mary Helen Sandoval said she still became emotional over the new improvements.
“I got all choked up as I walked through the playground over there. It's wonderful,” she said. “The only thing I think is missing is the pool. I wish that there was a brand new pool right here.”
The pool will be a conversation for another day. Denver parks officials told Denverite there are no current plans to bring a watering hole back to La Raza.
