|
|
|
|
     |
 |
|
The Plan By the 1950’s, Calvary Cemetery was run down once again. It was no longer being used for burials. Around this time period, a group of neighborhood citizens got together to try to get the city to make Calvary Cemetery a memorial park. They said the cemetery was an “eyesore,” and that “even ghosts would be afraid to go there at night.” In 1961, San Diego’s Park and Recreation Department requested that the cemetery be converted into a memorial park. It was scheduled for 1966 to 1967, but it was delayed because other projects were considered to be more important. On June 11, 1968, the city abandoned Calvary Cemetery. On February 29, 1969, the Historical Resources Board made Calvary Cemetery a historic site. After decades of protests and postponement, work on the new park, Pioneer Park, was finally ready to begin. The city hired Paderewski, Dean, and Associates in 1969 to design the plan for the park. They came up with a design in which all the gravestones still in good condition were lined up on the edge of the sidewalk that wound through the grassy, shady park where everyone could see them. The stone placed in the park at the 1938 Rededication Ceremony was going to be placed in the center of the park. Mrs. John W. Vann, a Mission Hills resident and representative of the Regional Historical Activities Committee, expressed the feeling of the Mission Hills residents when she described the park plan as, “…a spot of beauty.” She wanted “…a central commemorative monument, and a place to sit for the footsore, to rest a moment…thinking of the past, proud of the present, and envisioning the future of this peaceful garden spot…the resting place of once stalwart pioneers.” Clemens Granite Works was finally allowed to remove all of the unmarked granite. The City of San Diego passed Resolution Number 199061. They agreed to pay $85,100 to improve Calvary Cemetery. The contract was given to T.B. Penick and Sons. The work could finally begin.
The original plan for Pioneer Park drawn by Fredrac Meyer By Kamala and Maya |
A map of the plan of the park
Another map of the park. |
| © 2005 Grant Elementary School |
