Chacabuco Park

Situated over 3 mi (5 km) west of colonial Buenos Aires, land belonging to Jesuits was expropriated following their 1767 Papal suppression.

Named in honor of the pivotal 1817 Battle of Chacabuco, it originally featured ornate entry gates, three football fields, as well as selected business installations, such as a dairy, bookstore and tree nursery.

[4] The planned construction of a network of intra-city freeways by the last dictatorship's Mayor, Osvaldo Cacciatore, led to the 1978 destruction of a wide, diagonal swath through the park.

[1] The damage to the park (the area's principal green space) was only partially remedied by the 1981 opening of a sports complex and the 1984 construction of a cultural center under the freeway, itself.

[4] Works initiated in January 2008 on new freeway on-ramps and off-ramps met with steadfast opposition from neighborhood groups, and their construction was suspended pending review.