A conference and education center opened two years ago on the property in a converted historic building. It rents out halls, a theater, and a full service lounge for weddings, conferences and retreats.
The hope, Paul Chavez said, is that the center can go back to doing what Cesar Chavez once did: training regular people such as farmworkers, community leaders and activists in how to make change.
"If they can come here and we can give them some tools, and they can go back to their communities to use them, then I think my dad's legacy has been served," he said.
The national monument, which will be managed by the National Park Service, will bring more visitors to learn about the farmworker movement, Paul Chavez said.
The designation also will help diversify the offerings of the National Park System, said Tom Kiernan, president of the National Parks Conservation Association, an independent nonprofit that pushed to make the Chavez property the 398th site in the system.
"The whole purpose of the National Park System is to speak of what it means to be American and tell the stories of Americans," he said. "The Latino culture and stories are not adequately told and interpreted throughout the park system, and this designation helps fill that void."
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