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!
|
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.
|
|
