Neighbors living in close proximity to the Parque Dean in Guadalajara’s Zona Industrial scuffled with municipal police officers earlier this week after work crews cut down dozens of trees in the middle of the night at the start of a major overhaul of the green space.
Neighbors are opposed to Guadalajara city hall and the Siapa water utility’s plan to enlarge the reservoir in the park, arguing that it will alter the ecological balance of the zone.
Guadalajara Mayor Enrique Alfaro vowed that ten new trees will be planted for every one uprooted. Around 170 trees were chopped down in the late-night exercise, although Alfaro said 76 of them were only “arbustos” (bushes).
The park, which lies between Avenida Gobernador Curiel and 18 de Marzo, is the only green space in one of Guadalajara most industrialized areas. For many years, it housed a train carriage – the only railway “museum” in the metropolitan area.