Rennovation of Parque Miraflores will make it Cuenca’s top athletic training and recreation destination

Constructed in 1998 to host the South American Games, Cuenca’s Miraflores Park is about to get a make-over.

Located on Av. Las Americas on the city’s north side, the park has hosted dozens of regional and national sporting events and has the area’s only International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) sanctioned running track. According park and recreation officials, it is due for major restoration.

Artist’s conception of the new Miraflores Park.

“Because of its importance for high-level competitive training and as Cuenca’s best sporting venue, the park needs new facilities and upgrades and repairs to existing facilities to remain state of the art,” says Xavier Aguirre, one of the architects in charge of the project.

Aguirre and fellow architect Santiago López have worked with international track and field organizations in determining changes and upgrades needed at Miraflores. Among the major ones, says Aguirre, are the relocation of the grandstands from the west side of the track to the east side, covering the grandstands, the addition of a 200-meter warm-up track, and construction of a new multi-purpose building that will contain an indoor gym, exhibition hall, auditorium, doctors’ offices, and a cafeteria.

According to Aguirre, the park is not just for competition level use. “This is a park for everyone, for all ages and for all skill levels,” he says. “The new facilities will provide a social center for a wide variety of events that will have wide community appeal.”

In addition to track and field training and competition, the park will also include new volleyball courts, rock climbing facilities, walking and jogging tracks, a children’s playground and Cuenca’s first dog park.

Soil tests are currently being conducted, according to Aguirre, with the first phase of construction to begin in August or September.