National Chavez Center Dedicated

TEHACHAPI, Calif. â€”  More than 1,000 people gathered Saturday for the dedication of the National Chavez Center, a museum and contemplative garden devoted to labor and civil rights leader Cesar Chavez.

The center is on a 187-acre parcel known locally as La Paz, about 10 miles northeast of Tehachapi. The La Paz site is also the headquarters of the United Farm Workers labor union, which Chavez co-founded.

Chavez is buried at the site, which is maintained by the Cesar E. Chavez Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting and preserving Chavez’s values.

The ceremonies marked the site’s first opening to the general public on a permanent basis. The ceremony was held one day after the 11th anniversary of Chavez’s death on April 23, 1993.

La Paz was the place where Chavez went “to recharge his batteries,� said Teresa Chavez Delgado, his grandchild and a consultant for the center.

“He would look at the work he was doing from different angles here,� Delgado said. “It’s a really, really beautiful, scenic place.� The opening of the site will allow people to “pay respects to his final resting place� and teach “why we need to keep his struggle alive,� she added.

Paul Chavez, son of the labor leader and chairman of the foundation, said his father always wanted La Paz to rejuvenate and unite those who fought on behalf of farmworkers. He hopes the site provides the same relief and inspiration for the public.

“My dad believed strongly that ordinary people could do extraordinary things,� Paul Chavez said. “Our hope is that La Paz will be a place that families can come to and celebrate their lives. They’ll come here and pay their respects, and then they’ll go home and work to better their communities.�

Officials with the Chavez foundation also dedicated a $3-million visitor center and memorial garden built around the renovated wood-frame structure that housed Chavez’s office.

The activities Saturday included speeches by former Gov. Gray Davis, UFW co-founder Dolores Huerta and UFW President Arturo Rodriguez, and Chavez family members.

A community festival was held at the site.

Activities slated for today include a religious service and ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The building where Chavez worked from 1971 until 1993 now includes a 64-seat theater that screens short films on Chavez in English and Spanish. The space also has a photo exhibit and a replica of housing from a dilapidated farm labor camp.

Organizers hope to install permanent interactive exhibits on Chavez’s life and works in the future.

The memorial garden features Mission-style architecture with a series of arbors built from railroad ties. The site also includes fountains, religious statues and a floor mosaic forming the UFW’s Aztec-style eagle.