Parque de la Familia, Urban riverside park in Quinta Normal, Chile.
Parque de la Familia is an urban park along the Mapocho River featuring an artificial lagoon, walking paths, and water basins for recreation. The space covers roughly 20 hectares and accommodates walking, cycling, and non-motorized water activities.
Architect Cristián Boza conceived the idea of a navigable Mapocho after seeing Barcelona's Besós river reworked for the 1992 Olympics; he developed it from 2001 with Fundación Futuro. Sebastián Piñera made it a Bicentennial project, laying the first stone on 11 January 2011 and opening the hydraulic works by boat on 7 March 2014; the park opened on 21 January 2015. Named for Jesuit priest Renato Poblete, it was renamed Parque de la Familia on 9 April 2019 after abuse reports against him.
The park's name honours the families of Quinta Normal, Renca, Cerro Navia and Independencia, communes whose residents the project was meant to serve. Its earlier name commemorated the Jesuit priest Renato Poblete, chaplain of the Hogar de Cristo from 1982 to 2000; the name was dropped on 9 April 2019 after abuse reports against him. The 600-seat open-air amphitheatre hosts events.
The park is enclosed by a perimeter fence, with streets Esperanza to the east, Costanera Sur to the south and Nueva Andrés Bello to the west. Entry is free and it opens Tuesday to Sunday, closing on Mondays for cleaning and maintenance. Public toilets are on site, and city bus stops nearby are few, so access is limited.
This was Chile's first fluvial park and uses a special channel system to direct river water into the artificial lagoon. The water circulation allows for non-motorized water sports in a location that was previously underused riverside land.
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