Bustamante Park

Bustamante Park is an urban park in Providencia, Santiago de Chile. It is built on the former site of Pirque railroad station and adjacent classification yard. The park is bounded by Providencia Avenue on the north, just south of Plaza Baquedano, and Marín Street on the south.[1]

Bustamante Park
TypeUrban park
LocationSantiago, Chile
StatusOpen all year

Bustamante Park features bike paths, exercise equipment, a literary café, skatepark, monument and water feature. In recent years a number of new cafés and restaurants have opened around the park.[2] Bustamante Park has also become a popular location for outdoor entertainment, with the Providencia Theatre Festival held there annually.[3]

Line 5 of the Santiago Metro runs under the entire length of the park, stopping at Baquedano and Parque Bustamante metro stations. Valdivieso advertising sign is located on one of the buildings that line the park.

Origins and development

Both the park and the avenue bordering it to the east take their name from José Antonio Bustamante, who fought in the battles of Chacabuco and Maipú.[4]

In the 19th century, located in the area where the park now stands was an avenue running parallel to Vicuña Mackenna Avenue. This disappeared in 1894 to make way for a railway joining Santiago with Puente Alto, which was then otherwise isolated from the city, through Pirque railroad station (built facing Providencia Avenue between 1905 and 1911, today the location of Metro Baquedano).[5]

In the early 1940s, the stretch of rail between Pirque railroad station and Ñuñoa railroad station was dismantled, with the Pirque railroad station demolished by 1943, leaving space for the park to take shape.[5][6]

On December 27, 1947, at the northern end of the park towards Plaza Baquedano, the Monument to Manuel Rodríguez was installed.[7] In May 2008 a two-storey Café Literario (literary café) was inaugurated complete with a café, small library and reading areas, as well as views over the park including a water feature.[8] Some time later, a skatepark was opened between Avenida Rancagua and Avenida Francisco Bilbao.[6]

References
  1. "Parque Bustamante" (in Spanish). Corporación de Desarrollo Social de Providencia. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  2. Loreto Gatica. La Renovada Oferta Gastronómica del Parque Bustamante. La Tercera. 23 May 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  3. Festival Teatro Providencia Archived 2013-05-30 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  4. Historia Política Legislativa del Congreso Nacional de Chile José Antonio Bustamante Donoso. Chilean National Congress (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  5. Alejandro Dreisziger, El Parque Bustamante Archived 2011-12-15 at the Wayback Machine Chile.com. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  6. Carlos Palacios Sturiza. Las dos caras del Parque Bustamante. La Tercera. 6 March 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  7. Manuel Rodríguez (MP) Archived 2016-04-08 at the Wayback Machine. Tourist Information Centre (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  8. Nuevo Café Literario de Bellavista Abrirá en Febrero. La Tercera. 21 November 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2012.

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