The south side of Siloam Springs now has a park located where a deadly tornado claimed the life of a 15-year-old girl after a tree fell on her as she slept.
That teenager, Eliana Stephanie Chacon, died that fateful morning of May 2, 2008, but her spirit lives on in the park that now bears her name.
The Eliana Chacon Memorial Park opened Saturday, April 30, at 228 E. Lake Francis Drive, a plot of land that previously housed Choice Mobile Home Park.
The property was later known as Rosebud Trailer Park, which the city of Siloam Springs bought in October 2013 and unveiled last weekend in front of about 50 people, mostly Chacon's family members who visited from the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua.
"This is a special day for me. In this place, I lived many wonderful moments with my daughter, and here is where I saw her last smile," said Margarita Rodriguez, Chacon's mother, during the ribbon cutting. "Many days and nights I came here to cry, but now I will come to enjoy the smiles of the children, and to remember her."
Holland Hayden, communications director for the city of Siloam Springs, described Chacon as a wonderful young woman who was revered by the community, and stressed the importance of giving something to the Spanish-speaking population, which makes up 2o percent of the city.
"We're really excited to bring a park to the south side of Siloam Springs. I think that the south side has needed a park for a long time, and it just gives it an extra special feeling for it to be a memorial park," said Hayden, as she shed a few tears.
"It just gives them a sense of belonging and a sense of closure for them with Eliana," said Mayor John Mark Turner. "We want to reach out and embrace them and make sure that they understand that they're part of our family here."
Turner was a city board member in 2008 during the deadly tornado and said he remembers all the police and ambulances in the area during the tragedy.
The mayor said the park's aesthetics will improve once the landscaping is finished, and that the city will add a sidewalk for park visitors to arrive there safely. He also encouraged area residents to keep the park beautiful.
For Chacon's oldest brother, Alan Daniel Chacon, 28, this plot of land has brought him mixed emotions over the last eight years because of the sour memories.
"She was too young when she left, so there was still a lot left from us to receive from her," he said. "I have kids now, my brother is going off to college, so we didn't get to see a lot of that from her."
However, he said the park is her way to give those lost experiences to her family.
"I'm just glad that we're able to come back as a family and have our kids enjoy something like this," said Daniel Chacon, whose 3-year-old daughter is named Sydney Eliana Chacon, in her aunt's honor.
General News on 05/04/2016