Vincent Lugo Park facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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La Laguna de San Gabriel
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Vincent Lugo Park - 2017 Feb 13
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 Location in the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Location in California
Location in the United States
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| Location | 300 W. Wells St. San Gabriel, California |
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| Built | 1965 |
| Architectural style | Folk art |
| MPS | Latinos in 20th Century California |
| NRHP reference No. | 100000462 |
| Added to NRHP | January 11, 2017 |
Vincent Lugo Park is a super fun place located at 300 West Wells Street in San Gabriel, California. It's the biggest park in the whole city! At the park, you can find a baseball field, a multi-purpose sports area, picnic tables, barbecue spots, restrooms, and even a special building called the Girl Scout House. But the most famous part is probably the amazing "Monster Park" playground!
La Laguna: The Monster Playground
One of the coolest things at Vincent Lugo Park is a children's playground often called "La Laguna de San Gabriel" or "Monster Park." This unique playground was created by a Mexican-American artist named Benjamin Dominguez.
The playground has 14 "friendly looking cement sea creatures" that seem to rise out of the sand, just waiting for kids to play on them! Imagine climbing on Minnie the whale, Stella the starfish, Ozzie the octopus, or Flipper, Speedy, and Peanut, who are three colorful dolphins. This special playground was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 11, 2017, which means it's considered very important historically.
Park History
The story of Vincent Lugo Park began in 1965. Back then, Vincent Lugo was in charge of parks for the City of San Gabriel. He had a big idea: to turn a city landfill (a place where trash was buried) into a beautiful park. He successfully changed this trash dump into the San Gabriel Municipal Park, showing how something ugly could become something wonderful.
Because of his hard work and vision over 30 years as a city employee, the park was renamed Vincent Lugo Park in his honor in 1988. It was a way to remember his amazing contributions to the city.
Saving the Playground
In 2006, there were plans to tear down the unique sea creature playground. Some people thought the structures were old and unsafe. But many local people loved the playground and didn't want to see it go! They formed a group called "Friends of La Laguna" to fight for its preservation and to help fix it up.
In 2008, the Friends of La Laguna group asked for a special report to be made about the playground's history and how to preserve it. This report helped show how important the playground was. In 2009, the La Laguna playground was successfully added to the California Register of Historic Places. It was also named a local landmark for the City of San Gabriel.
The park was closed for about 18 months between 2011 and 2012 for important renovations. Thanks to all the hard work of the Friends of La Laguna, the playground was nominated for the National Register of Historic Places in 2016. City Manager Steve Preston said, "It is historic... It is a cultural landscape, and it is an active, living playground." This shows how much people value this special place where history and fun come together.
Gallery
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Vincent Lugo Park - 2017 Feb 13
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Vincent Lugo Park - 2017 Feb 13
