Oswaldo “A.K” Cantu Pan American Recreation Center

East Austin Barrio LandmarksMexican American History
Written By Preservation Austin

This post is a part of our East Austin Barrio Landmarks Project honoring the historic and cultural significance of East Austin's Mexican American community. For more information on the project—including our complete blog series and self-guided tour—click here.

Preservation Austin: Oswaldo Cantu Pan American Rec Center

Original Comal School Location

The community hub that would one day become the Oswaldo “A.B.” Cantu Pan American Recreation Center was first opened by the National Youth Administration in 1942.

BY KATHERINE ENDERS

The Latin American Community Center, as it was known at the time, was located at Comal and 3rd Street inside the old Comal Street School building. The school had been abandoned since the 1930s after students were required to transfer to Zavala Elementary. The center opened to provide services and activities for the Mexican American community, especially the neighborhood youth.

It also served as an organizing space for political groups such as the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the Mexican Patriotic Club. In 1946, the city’s Parks and Recreation Department took over the center and installed Raul “Roy” Guerrero as the new director. Guerrero was already an established advocate for racial equity in recreation at the time, and would go on to become the second in command of the Austin Parks and Recreation Department.

Move to Present-Day Location

Recreation Dept., City of Austin. Pan American Recreation Center's Skating Class, March 30, 1959, Photograph (Austin History Center via the Portal to Texas History)

Storytime at the Pan American Recreation Center Library, c. 1960, Recreation Dept., City of Austin (Austin history Center via the Portal to Texas History)

In 1956, the center relocated a few blocks further east to its present-day location connected to Zavala Elementary. At that time there was a contest to decide on a new name for the recreation hub. The winning suggestion was submitted by community member Dr. George I. Sanchez: the Pan American Recreation Center.

The new building cost $195,000 and was the first community center in Austin specially designed for recreation purposes. Its grand opening weekend was attended by neighbors, along with many Mexican American political and community groups. Mayor Tom Miller delivered the dedication speech and a community dance to music by the Nash Hernández Orchestra marked the occasion. The Nash Hernández Orchestra still performs around Austin to this day, led today by Nash’s son, Ruben Hernández.

Preservation Austin: Oswaldo Cantu Pan American Rec Center

Activities at the Pan-Am Center, May 1959 (Austin History Center via the Portal to Texas History)

The center continued to grow in its new space and was able to provide more services to the community. Sports, crafts, and life skills such as sewing and cooking were all taught there. Adults also benefited from the many classes offered at Pan Am, with courses covering a broad range of practical skills such as English lessons, driving instruction, and how to navigate the citizenship process and voting. Fun events like roller-skating days and dances took place as well. A library was also available within the center for community use. Many of the books had been donated by fundraisers hosted by the women’s journalism fraternity Theta Sigma Phi. Within a few years of the center relocating, a new staff member was hired who would prove crucial in establishing a program that would end up becoming one of Pan Am’s most enduring legacies—boxing.

January 28, 1959, Recreation Dept., City of Austin (Austin History Center via the Portal to Texas History)

Boxing Comes to Pan Am

Oswaldo A.B. Cantu was a man known by many names. He was “Mr. Pan Am” to some, “Mr. Boxing” to others, and even sometimes referred to as the “unofficial mayor of East Austin.” His most enduring nickname, “Atomic Bomb” (abbreviated A.B.), was the one that stuck. Cantu first began boxing with friends in a warehouse that housed a vegetable market.

Cantu reportedly stuffed a duffle bag full of padding to use as his first punching bag. When he was drafted for the Korean War, he found himself boxing in the Army. When Cantu returned home he had a strong desire to bring more opportunities for boxing to the youth of East Austin. Cantu spoke candidly about crime that he saw in the neighborhood. He firmly believed boxing and other sports were one way to help kids stay out of trouble. He thought that an outlet like boxing could help dispel feelings of isolation and otherness that he believed made young people susceptible to gangs or drugs. Cantu worked hard to provide a place where neighborhood youth could build a sense of community. He founded the Pan American Boxing Club in 1956.

Cantu’s hard work led Pan Am’s boxing gym to become one of the most well-respected in the area. Boxing competitions featuring Pan Am youth often drew a crowd. Cantu also organized the regional Golden Gloves tournaments each year, with Pan Am consistently taking first place from 1956 to 1961. One of Cantu’s boxers, Manuel Navarro, was the national bantamweight champion in 1964. Cantu coached scores of young boxers over the decades, but he also connected with other neighborhood kids by teaching cooking, art classes, and overseeing other activities at Pan Am. He was a respected role model in the Mexican American community for many more than just his boxers.

Hillside Program, June 20, 1968, Recreation Dept., City of Austin (Austin History Center via the Portal to Texas History)

Music, Murals, and Community

Cinco de Mayo celebrations, movie nights, dances, and fundraisers for Mexican American groups all regularly took place at Pan Am. Concerts were also a huge part of its offerings. The Hillside Theater was added at the base of the grassy hill beside the center in 1958. Its weekly Tuesday evening programs were extremely popular. Performances were always free and open to the public, giving the neighborhood an opportunity to gather together. The shows were often a mix of different musical performances along with talent acts such as baton twirling or hula hooping. The music typically highlighted Tejano artists with notable performances from Manuel “Cowboy” Donley, the Nash Hernández Orchestra, and even a young Selena y Los Dinos. Performances still happen at the Hillside Theater to this day, making it the longest running outdoor concert series in Austin.

Murals by Raul Valdez were added to the Hillside Theater in 1978. Valdez, an East Austinite himself, collaborated closely with other community members and neighborhood youth to determine what should be included in the murals. One wall depicts a Mexican family in the back of a pickup truck representing the large migrant workforce. Another panel features labor organizer and political activist Cesar Chavez leading a group of workers. Birth, life, and struggle are recurring themes displayed throughout the mural. Over the years, the murals have been subject to graffiti and vandalism, but they were fully restored by Valdez in 2012.

In 1996, the site was renamed the Oswaldo A.B. Cantu Pan American Recreation Center in honor of the Center’s cherished boxing coach and community pillar. Pan Am still serves the community today, and it continues to play an important role in supporting the people of East Austin.

Preservation Austin: Oswaldo Cantu Pan American Rec Center
Preservation Austin: Oswaldo Cantu Pan American Rec Center

PRESERVATION AUSTIN IS INDEBTED TO THE FOWLER FAMILY FOUNDATION FOR SUPPORTING THIS WORK AND FOR MAKING THE EAST AUSTIN BARRIO LANDMARKS PROJECT POSSIBLE.

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