The Itchimbia Park is located at the summit and slope of the Itchimbia hill, at the oriental limit of the Quito's Historic Center, surrounded by neighborhoods like El Dorado, La Tola and San Blas. It is at 2 900 meters and it is considered as a natural lookout point because of the great view that you get from the Quito Historic Center in either way.

After relocating the families that lived on the hill, the reconstruction phase of the park started. The reconstructed Park was inaugurated late on 2004. The park area includes, 6 489 meters of green areas and 1 200 meters of community equipment.

The total area of the park has 54 hectares; in it we can find around 400 varieties of flowers, 40 species of birds and one hectare of wetland. It is a great place for activities such as educational, recreational and for tourism, that is why there was made a big investment on the reconstruction of this park.

One of its main attractions is the Itchimbia Cultural Center or Crystal House, which it was built from the old metallic structure of the Santa Clara Market.

This old structure of iron and zinc was imported from Hamburg during the government of Eloy Alfaro in 1889. The construction area is of 3 135 square meters.

The corporation "Vida para Quito" awards the administration of the park to the private consortium Ecogestion-Ciudad, which in a three year period will execute things related to educational, recreational, ecological and cultural activities.

Some of the works that should been done in the near future are balconies, a ceremonial center, interpretation centers, sport courts, footpaths and a forest. All of this with the adequate signalization, security and information centers.

Services:

Crystal House, museum with permanent exhibitions
Footpath of 2,4 km
Parking lot for 146 vehicles
A plaza area of 866 square meters
Tree of different species (arrayan, quishuar, pumamaqui, Alamo, capuli)
Cultural and recreational activities, muppets, painting workshops, yoga, etc.

More information about the project:
http://www.vidaparaquito.com/itchimbia.htm

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