San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
Park founded by Pat Nixon 50 years ago
urdays and Sundays. The couple doesn’t mind driving for more than an hour, just for a few minutes with their loved ones.
Sometimes, access to vehicles is closed to the public so to get to the park people must walk over a mile. Campos recalled that on one occasion, an agent guarding the area gave them a ride, realizing there were only a few minutes left for the park to close.
For six years this was part of the routine. The eldest of their children, whom they have not held in 12 years, waited for them on the Mexican side of the wall.
Campos’ sisters, whom she has not seen in 20 years, sometimes arrived by bus from Sonora to join the family reunion.
Border Field State Park is one of the 11 state parks that remain closed and the only one listed in San Diego County, according to the California Department of Parks and Recreation’s most recent update.
Jorge Moreno, an information officer with state parks, said this week, that officials anticipate Border Field State Park to re-open to vehicles, as well as to pedestrian access and trail use, in June.
“While State Parks has increased access across the State Park System, recent storms have flooded roads and trails at Border Field State Park,” he said in a statement.
“Out of precaution and public safety, the park is closed to hiking, biking, equestrian activity and vehicles until further notice. Criteria for park reopening includes non-flooded roads and trails. Additional criteria include the ability to meet county health sanitation standards for COVID-19.”
Meanwhile, the Friends of
Friendship Park Coalition started an online petition to push for the park’s reopening and once this happens, guarantee easy and secure access to the public. So far, more than 600 signatures have been collected.
“Many families have called us asking if they are allowed inside the park yet,” said coalition member Daniel Watman. “So, with this petition, we want to let the authorities know what’s going on because maybe they think there’s no interest.”
Last month, coalition members celebrated that the border wall construction at Friendship Park had stopped because of an executive order by President Joe Biden.
They feared the work would change the dynamics of family interactions at the binational park and the existence of the binational garden near the wall. For now they remain hopeful that border construction could end for good.
In August the park will turn 50 years old after being founded by the then-first lady, Pat Nixon, as a symbol of friendship between the two countries.
The coalition plans an event in August to commemorate the anniversary. It plans to invite first lady Jill Biden and Mexico’s Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller.
This celebration aims to present community-made design proposals for what a truly bi-national park would look like, as part of the Build that Park campaign.
“This Visionary Plan will remind us all that our best security with our neighbors to the south is friendship and cooperation,” advocates said on the campaign’s website.
For years, local advocates have driven the idea of a more accessible international park that allows contact between people on both sides of the border.
While they recognize that it might be difficult to persuade federal authorities to do this, they consider it’s worth a try.