City honors San Luis resident
SAN LUIS, Ariz. – A newly posted sign at a park on this city’s east side may seem to promise happiness for all who visit it.
San Luis City Council member want visitors to have a good time, but they had another reason in mind when they voted in October 2019 to rename it Alegria – Spanish for “happiness” or joy – Park.
The council renamed the park in honor of Maria Alegria, a San Luis resident who was the impetus behind its development.
With Alegria herself attending, city officials completed the rechristening at a recently ceremony when they unveiled the new sign with the park’s name on it.
The park is located at Emmanuel AVenue and San Pedro Street in what began in 2007 as a retention basin to trap storm runoff. In the years that followed, Alegria, a resident of the the 9A subdivision where the basin is located, organized a campaign to raise money for playground equipment and other amenities to
double its use as a public park.
“It means a lot to me that the park carries my name” Aguirre said. “It signified achievements and sacrificies, and it signifies that the people support it. This is for this (side of the city), for the children who are being raised here, to show people that by working together, many things can be done.
“It makes me proud to see that what was once a seed is now flowering and taking root,” she added. “I tell the families that this is for them and their children, so that they see that whatever they are going to do is going to have a good effect.”
Alegria took the occasion at the ceremony to praise city parks and recreation department meployees for contributing labor to develop the park.
She said neighbors are now working to raise money for a fence for a fence around the athletic court to protect other park users while games are taking place.