La Junta City Park
Otero County
Constructed between 1933 and 1941, the park demonstrates the importance of federal relief programs in Colorado during the Great Depression. The Civil Works Administration project focused on drainage in the park, while the later Works Progress Administration projects involved extensive landscaping that included building the lake; planting trees and building drives; and constructing rustic stone walls, benches and buildings. La Junta City Park is the primary park for the community. Although the land was donated to the city in 1905, few improvements were made.
La Junta City Park (2006 photograph.)
The New Deal projects converted an underutilized and poorly drained park into a location for active and passive recreation. The park exemplifies WPA design influenced by the Rustic style. Characteristic elements of the style seen in the park include the use of native stone, traditional construction methods, simple functional design, and evident hand craftsmanship, such as the beaded grapevine mortar joints. The materials and construction methods reflect public relief work programs designed to be labor intensive. The property is associated with the New Deal Resources in Eastern Colorado Multiple Property Submission.