Welcome!
We
are happy to be able to show you all the things that are
happening at Corona Heritage Park & Museum. There are a
few very important things you should know about the park:
• We are a 100% volunteer non-profit organization
• We are privately funded, not by your tax dollars
• The park and museum exhibits are always free to everyone
• We're open 10 am - 2 pm, Tuesdays through Saturdays, except holidays
I'm sure you will enjoy learning about this great place that is here for you. Thanks for letting us inform you!
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Corona Heritage Park & Museum presents
“The History, Art and Culture of Corona”
Since 1911, the Foothill Lemon Ranch, now the site of
Corona Heritage Park and Museum, had been the agricultural hub of this
sloped alluvium that 150,000 of us now call home. During most of those
years the headquarters bustled with migrant workers from Italy,
Ireland, Mexico, Africa, Asia, as well as from our own mid-west. It was
a town within a town providing everything from the housing, consisting
mainly of tents pitched in a style of suburban tracts, to the company
store, where all the common necessities could be had on account.
Railroad spurs traversed the landscape removing the fruit of the
groves, returning with lumber for homes and the goods to satisfy their
occupants. Largely unknown by today’s residents, it’s history easily
rivals any in Corona as a significant local sight of hallowed ground.
It is a splendid place to preserve a slice of Corona’s history for the
future.
The city fathers recognized this
in 1991 when they delved into its study. The feasibility was there but
the money was not. It was mid-recession and difficult enough to
maintain the city as it was. The future of the past seemed destined to
be entombed in the dust of other civic progress.
The economy eventually advanced as the century was about to turn.
Nostalgic notions began to creep in about those things that come to
pass and a resurgence of preservation began to intrigue the entire
nation. It was time for Corona to take a stand on its few remaining
connections to its past.
Still, the
city did not have the wherewithal to own and operate a heritage park. A
deal was struck with its citizens - that if an autonomous organization
could be established proving its capacity to fund and develop the
facility - that the city would deed them the property.
In November 2000, the Corona Heritage Foundation became the worthy
proprietors. By December 2000, the first phase of the 10,000 sq. ft.
Corona Heritage Museum was opened in what once was the 1937 company
store.
Local artists clamored to fill
the gallery. Studio space was lent to art professionals in trade for
their commitments to provide education to the community. Adults and
children began to learn painting, sculpture and theory. Events, fairs,
fund-raisers, meetings and get-togethers shared the culture of the
local history. Suddenly Corona had a museum with the promise of
enrichment beyond anything available before.
The scope and range of what Corona Heritage Park provides is sweeping.
A home for history and preservation, a center for art and culture, and
a place that simply says this is what Corona is all about, past,
present and future.
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