Monserrate and the Watkins Zoological Park reflect the ruin of recreational spaces in Matanzas

Matanzas/Going to Monserrate was, for many children from Matanzas, the perfect day. Today, hundreds of adults retain fond memories of that amusement park, which was the provincial version of Lenin Park. Parents, not only from the city, but from the entire province, took their children to spend a different day there. But all that was left behind when the State – the absolute owner and ruler of the place – abandoned it to its fate, to the point that rescue and rescue forces had to intervene on several occasions. The jewel in the crown, the Ferris wheel – or “star” – frequently broke down and left families suspended more than twenty meters above the ground, with an obvious risk to their safety.

When all seemed lost, a light seemed to turn on. In 2023, after several months of repair, the park reopened its doors. Officials from the Communist Party and the Government, present at the inauguration, assured that Monserrate would recover its former splendor and even promised a bus route to guarantee the flow of visitors. Two years later, the reality of this “capital revitalization” is very different, as a worker and resident of the area says.

“We are closer to the times when the park was closed and the grass was over two meters high than to seeing it as we were promised in the summer of 2023, when we thought everything was going to improve,” says the person in charge of the green areas of the place. “I fulfill my salary, as you can see, by keeping the park clean. But the important thing is that the devices work, that there are gastronomic offers. Today we lack all that. The few attractions that work depend on electricity, so the park is at a standstill, at least in my opinion.”

When asked if he sees any way out for Monserrate to return to what it was, he continues chatting and responds: “The only way for the park to improve is to lease it to an individual. Unfortunately, only they can responsibly look after such a facility. That is constantly talked about, but everything remains in hallway stories. Meanwhile, even if the park opens, the few children who come are from the surrounding area and there is not much they can do.”

The reality of a country without fuel for transportation and with a chronic electricity crisis took its toll on the idea of ​​resuscitation promoted by the Cuban Fund for Cultural Assets. The most affected, once again, were the children who were to benefit from the project.

Less than a kilometer away, nestled in the heart of La Marina, lies what was once the tube park, another children’s recreational space that enjoyed great acceptance after its inauguration in the first decade of the 2000s. Its proximity to the Watkins micro-zoo made it a mandatory stop after the visit. Today, their games have been stolen. The plastic that predominated in them was transformed – as the neighbors say – into buckets and clothespins. With each piece missing, the presence of children also decreased, especially those from the area, one of the most humble and disadvantaged in the city.

Little can be added to the bleak panorama of the children’s recreational centers in Matanzas. The aforementioned Watkins Park barely escapes total ruin, although the health of its animals is another cause for concern. The deterioration of these spaces is not limited to their land, but forces minors to play in the street, encourages the accumulation of garbage and the proliferation of vectors when the State stops financing their maintenance. The people of Matanzas can only look helplessly and repeat, as in the song Where will the children play?a question that remains unanswered.