Bustamante Park 4.16

Bustamante Park is an urban park in Providencia, Santiago de Chile. It is built on the former site of Pirque railroad station and adjacent classification yard. The park is bounded by Providencia Avenue on the north, just south of Plaza Baquedano, and Marín Street on the south.Bustamante Park features bike paths, exercise equipment, a literary café, skatepark, monument and water feature. In recent years a number of new cafés and restaurants have opened around the park. Bustamante Park has also become a popular location for outdoor entertainment, with the Providencia Theatre Festival held there annually.Line 5 of the Santiago Metro runs under the entire length of the park, stopping at Baquedano and Parque Bustamante metro stations. Valdivieso advertising sign is located on one of the buildings that line the park.Origins and DevelopmentBoth the park and the avenue bordering it to the east take their name from José Antonio Bustamante, who fought in the battles of Chacabuco and Maipú.In the 19th century, located in the area where the park now stands was an avenue running parallel to Vicuña Mackenna Avenue. This disappeared in 1894 to make way for a railway joining Santiago with Puente Alto, which was then otherwise isolated from the city, through Pirque railroad station (built facing Providencia Avenue between 1905 and 1911, today the location of Metro Baquedano).