In the official project, the instigator of the idea, Colonel
Domingo Mercante, governor and founder of the "Investor Institute of the Province of Buenos Aires", proposed: "we want to put the child in an environment of joyful recreation, in direct contact with the citizen responsibilities of the future, so that when he reaches manhood he will be an Argentine aware of his duties, rights and obligations. At the same time that he has for his first years a kind and imperishable memory, and thus form the best and most generous offspring of him". The Republic of Children was built on land that was formerly a part of Swift Golf Club. On November 26, 1951, the park was officially opened by the then President
Juan Domingo Perón.
Eva Perón was unable to attend because she was already suffering from the cancer that would end her life several months later. President Perón signed the "Golden Book" of the inauguration with the slogan: "That in this Children's Republic the Argentines learn to be fair, free and sovereign, so that they can never accept the exploitation of brothers, economic submission and political vassalage". As part of its educational and recreational function, the institution housed more than 300 children. During this period "Children's Towns" of the same type were also built in
Córdoba and
Mendoza. After the
Coup d'état of 1955 all democratic training programs were abandoned, and the Children's Republic was reduced to a recreational theme park with mechanical games. In 1968, inspired by Cándido Moneo Sánz, puppeteer and theater director, the "Museo Internacional de los Muñecos" (
International Doll Museum) was inaugurated in the Palace of Culture building of the park, with one of the most important collections from Latin America, made up of dolls with typical clothing from different countries. After the democracy was reestablished in
1973 with
Héctor Cámpora elected as president, the Peronist Youth held a great celebration and the symbolic takeover of the facility, considering it a symbol of
Peronism. With the resignation of Cámpora a month later, the property was once again abandoned. During the
National Reorganization Process, a decree (n° 1,294, promulgated in 1979) ceded the Children's Republic to the Municipality of La Plata. and suggested its privatization, pursuant to which, major of La Plata Alberto Tettamanti, awarded its operation to the company Zanón Hermanos, concessionaire of the amusement park
Italpark, the only bidder. The Civic Center buildings were used for administrative tasks of the concessionaire. Only with the return to democracy in 1983, the Municipality of La Plata –which had taken over administration of the property since 1979– undertook a policy more akin to the original values, generated educational programs and workshops for students of primary schools and special education. By law 25,550 promulgated on December 27, 2001, the
Congress of Argentina declared the Children's Republic "National Historical Monument". In August 2008, the government of the Province of Buenos Aires signed an agreement with the
National University of General San Martín for a general restoration that included the investigation and historical reconstruction of the buildings. The objective was to reopen the complex in November 2010, as part of the celebration of the
Bicentennial of the
May Revolution. ==Features==