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| Olympian, Florence Joyner: former Mission Viejo resident. |
As you travel around Mission Viejo, continue keeping your eyes open for some interesting architectural markers and landmarks that you might not have known about before reading it here.
For example, did you know that according to local folklore and those in the know that Mission Viejo’s Garden Plaza Business Center at the intersection of La Paz and Marguerite Parkway was designed to replica a miner’s village?
The center, which opened in late 1975, was once known as Miner’s Village. Plaza walkways were built to resemble a mining shaft, exposed beams were placed on building exteriors to showcase a mining village atmosphere and horseshoe prints were placed in concrete around the center. Real Estate Technology, Inc. of Beverly Hills developed the center and John Wells of Newport Beach was the architect.
Or did you know that there is a park and a roadway landmark that pays tribute to a Mission Viejo Olympic event and the town’s Olympic athletes?
The 1984 Men’s and Women’s Olympic Cycling Road Races were held in Mission Viejo. A short time after the 1984 Summer Games were over, the Olympic committee gave Mission Viejo an historical marker, which stood near the races start/finish line on Olympiad (Road) for nearly 20 years. In 2004, a 20th anniversary observance for the cycling races was held. A checkered block finish line was placed on Olympiad to recreate the original start/finish line and the marker was placed on a new base.
Just down the street at the corner of Olympiad and Alicia is Florence Joyner Olympiad Park, named to honor the late Olympian and Mission Viejo resident Florence Griffith Joyner. A statue of Joyner stands near the park’s entrance. A garden fence has the ring symbol of the Olympics, plaques honor many Mission Viejo Olympians, and on a hillside at the park edge, wooden cyclists ride to a finish line.
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