Historic Center of the city of Colón (2014-2019)
Channel: Jaime Massot Hernández
Date: 21/02/2020

On November fifth, 2014, in the park fifth of November of the city of Colón, the newly elected president - Juan Carlos Varela Rodríguez - said: “More than 10 bidding documents have been uploaded on the “Panamá Purchase” site, to start the total tender of Colón. In the next few days, the bidding documents will be uploaded for a new community, which will be called Alto de los Lagos; where more than five thousand homes will be built and that will allow the total renovation of the city of Colón”.

He also reported that more than 500 million dollars would be invested in housing projects, drinking water, urban renovation, impact on historic buildings, wastewater treatment, roads, etc. He said that the city would be very similar to the Old Town of Panama City with: cobbled streets, treated sewage, and above all, with decent housing for the population. 

The foregoing was in compliance with “Objective 3.9 - Economic growth and public investment with equity” - of his Government Plan for the period from 2014 to 2019. Specifically, the point: “The restoration of the Historic Center of Colón to enhance tourism development and other economic activities to promote the historical, cultural, artisanal, and artistic heritage of the people of Colón.”

Once the Government of President Varela has started, the Ministry of Housing, directed by Mario Etchelecu, establishes the “Renovation Project of the City of Colón” whose objectives published on its web page included; “The total renovation of urban infrastructure and the recovery of historic buildings or abandoned sites of national interest.” The project included: “the recovery of emblematic buildings and structures with great historical value, which are located along the North and South neighborhoods. This with the intention of protecting the estates that speak for themselves about the old Colón, such as the Wilcox House and Bamboo Lane. ” 

Three days after President Varela's speech, hoping that this valuable monumental complex - with decades of neglect - would be rescued, I toured the historic center and photographed most of the buildings, parks and open spaces listed, in Law No. 47 of August 8, 2002, which declares the Old Town of the city of Colón as Historical Monumental Complex.

Now (2019), five years after the electoral promise and conclusion of Varela´s Government, I walk the area again and present 84 comparative photos - 2014 contrasted with 2019 - to subjectively assess the good, the bad, and the ugly ... due to the abysmal difference between the concepts of: Renovation, Recovery, Rehabilitation, Restoration, or Repair - the 5 R´s - of historical monuments if we contrast existing laws and national reality. 

Therefore, this documentary film presents a traffic light in green, the good thing, if a positive execution of any of the 5 R´s is observed; red, the bad, if it is negative "demolition for example "; and yellow, the ugly, if it’s previous bad condition did not receive any improvement in these five years, that is, the historic monument is still abandoned. No activated light, denotes that its past condition - in 2014 - did not change in the last five years.