Parque de la Ciudad

The Parque de la Ciudad is a former amusement park in the Villa Soldati neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina.HistoryThe park was planned by the administration of Mayor Osvaldo Cacciatore in 1978. Cacciatore, appointed by Argentina's last military government, envisaged the park as the centerpiece of efforts to revitalize the dilapidated Villa Soldati ward. The mayor opened the contract to develop a theme park for bidding, and awarded the bid to Interama Parks S.A., a company established for the purpose; Alberto Gourdy Allende was chosen as its first managing director.Interama Parks was formed for use of the military that governed Argentina at that time, but also for civilian use. The company contracted the Swiss firm Intamin to supply imported attractions, including mechanical games, roller coasters, facilities, accessories, shopping trolleys, popcorn machines, and the Interama Tower, an observation tower. The amusement area itself is a relatively small facet of the park, which included 75 hectares (188 acres) of green space.Construction and ReactionConstruction began at the end of 1978. The park was planned on a 120 hectare (296 acre) undeveloped lot located near the Parque Zoofitogeografico (an arboretum), in Villa Soldati. It lay between Belgrano South railway and existing parking lots near Fernández of Cruz Avenue, and would be adjacent to an existing city park. The construction required the eviction of remote area's slums, as well as numerous, small landowners; some roads required pavement to allow construction machinery access to the site.