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FROM
CUBA
Citizens band together in attempt to
save last wooden building
HAVANA, February (www.cubanet.org) - Several
citizens of the southern Havana fishing
port of Batabanó have banded together
in an effort to save the last remaining
wooden hotel in the province, a building
they consider has historical value and has
been neglected for decades.
The group, encompassing writers, artists
and others, came together January 25, under
the name Circle of Friends of the Two Brothers
Hotel. They intend to promote to authorities
the idea that saving the structure is worthwhile.
The three-story building is over 100 years
old and is showing the ravages of time.
Numerous leaks have destroyed the hardwood
upper terrace; vandals and looters have
taken or damaged ornamentation, carvings,
wood candelabra, mahogany balustrades.
In years past, someone was authorized to
sell off the zinc sheets from the roof.
Some time back the historian of the City
of Havana, Eusebio Leal, the man responsible
for whatever conservation and restoration
work has been done there, visited Batabanó
and promised repairs and paint, as well
as a fire protection system. But nothing
has happened.
Architects brought in from Havana have
estimated the total cost of repairs to the
structure at one million pesos and one-half
million dollars. [In Cuba, costs are often
expressed in both currencies; the peso component
describes goods and services that can be
obtained locally, the dollar components
those that must be imported and paid for
in scarce hard currency.]
Versión
original en español
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