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4worldlovers: Parque de Soza is the first of the approved park renovation and restoration program. The park was originally built in 1960 and renovation was completed and the park re-opened for use May 16, 2009. The park is named in honor of the Soza family.

The Soza Family has roots back to the founding of Tempe, not to mention far deeper connections to Arizona and the Mexican state of Sonora that go back centuries. In 1870, Tiburcio Sotelo came from southern Arizona with two sons and a nephew to stake their claim in Tempe and helped to build its early canals. Tiburcio purchased the 160 acre quarter section at the southeast corner of modern University Drive and Rural Road. The Sotelo men were tough Arizona frontiersmen, but 1871 saw the untimely passing of Tiburcio and sons Jose and Feliciano. That’s when Manuela Sanchez Sotelo came to Tempe with her eight daughters and a son, and she established the Sotelo Family in Tempe for decades to come. Soon a well-respected member of the growing Tempe community, Manuela would subdivide her land in the years to come, selling much of it to other early Mexican pioneer families. Around the same time that the Sotelo Family moved to Tempe, members of the Soza Family arrived from Tucson. Brothers Juan and Placido Soza originally settled in Tempe in 1871. Juan married Jesus Maria Sotelo, one of Manuela and Tiburcio’s daughters, and the couple permanently relocated their home to Tempe where they raised a large family. The Sotelo and Soza Families worked hard to help build Tempe from the ground up, from digging canals, clearing farmland, raising livestock, hauling freight, and working with Charles Hayden at his flour mill. Not as well recognized as they should be for their contributions to Tempe, these families have shown commitment, connection and love for their hometown not easily equaled.

The original Park grew out of residential developments and opened for use in 1960. Its renovation marks the beginning of a significant milestone as Tempe began the process or reinvesting in parks to make them more attractive and useful for future generations of Tempeans.