Ponce Historic Zone
The Ponce Historic Zone ("La Zona Histórica de Ponce") is a historic district in downtown Ponce, Puerto Rico, consisting of buildings and structures with architecture that date to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The zone goes by various names, including Ponce Tradicional (Traditional Ponce), Ponce Centro (Ponce Center), Ponce Histórico (Historic Ponce), and Distrito Histórico (Historic District). History. Carmelo Rosario Natal has linked the origins of the Ponce Historic Zone to an event that took place on 8 June 1893. On that date, La Gaceta de Puerto Rico, the insular government's official periodical, published  an edict of the Governor of Puerto Rico, Antonio Daban y Ramirez de Arellano, that mandated municipal authorities throughout the Island to divide, for fire control purposes, a town's urban center into three zones: stone-built, build with fire resistant materials, and built with combustible materials. No structure could be built, rebuilt or restored within a minimum of 50 meters from the town's central square unless it was stoned-built or it was to be upgraded to a stone-built structure. According to Rosario Natal, those were the roots of what almost 70 years later would be called  the Ponce Historic Zone. On 20 June 1960, governor Luis Muñoz Marín amended the law regarding historic zones, making it possible for Ponce to be included in such category. On 6 June 1962, the Zone was officially designated as such, and initially included only the center core of the city, but it was later expanded to include a much larger area. On that date (6 June 1962) the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, with the concurrence of the Puerto Rico Planning Board, approved a resolution creating the Zone. The Zone included a list of 22, mostly contiguous areas, including specific buildings , structures, plaza, streets and sectors that were to be preserved. It also included an area in barrio Playa, including the ruins of the old Fuerte de San José. It was not long before the creation of the Zone was opposed by local developers and the real estate service industry. Ismaro Torruella, president of the Municipal Assembly, who was originally one of the supporters of the creation of the Zone, succumbed to mounting pressure from local developers, business people and realtors and, by 1962, now favored the elimination, or at least the limitation, of the Zone. "The evidence on this matter  is clear. Torruella and his colleagues wanted to make sure the public hearing [of 10 March 1965] was controlled by them." Opposing groups sought to make their voices known to the townspeople at large, not just to the Municipal Government and the ICP, and formed "Comite de Ciudadanos para el Progreso de Ponce" (Citizens Committee Ponce's Progress). This committee included prominent businessmen such as Juan Eugenio Candal, Jose Maria Rovira, Gustavo Armstrong, Jose Moscoso, Tito Castro, among several others. To counter this group, supporters of the Historic Zone created their own "Comite Ponceño Pro Buen Progreso" (Ponce Citizens' Committee  for Fair Progress)." The debates went on for years with many public hearings taking place. Professional urban planning, traffic, and architectural studies, among others, also took place and recommendations were provided. One study categorized the architectural styles in the Historic Zone into seven groups: Neoclassical European, Spanish Colonial, Ponce Creole, Criollo Pueblerino, Criollo Residencial Pueblerino, Neoclassical Creole, and Neoclassical Superior. On 17 November 2005, then-Governor of Puerto Rico, Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, signed Executive Order Number 72, approving the historic Ponce center as a Historic Center of First Order. Location. The zone is located in what is commonly called "Ponce  Pueblo" ("Ponce Town") – the central downtown and oldest area of the city. While there are several roads that lead to it, the most common point of entry is via PR-1, which turns into the Miguel Pou Boulevar, and then into the one-way Calle Isabel, leading to the center of Ponce at the Plaza Las Delicias. A map of the area covered by the Ponce Historic Zone is available (in 2011) from the government of the municipality of Ponce. In addition to Plaza Las Delicias, with its unique Parque de Bombas and Nuestra Señora de la Guadalupe Cathedral, the zone  includes landmarks such as Ponce City Hall, Armstrong-Poventud Residence, Ponce High School, and Panteón Nacional Román Baldorioty de Castro. Numerous other attractions in this historic area are listed in the NRHP, such as Banco de Ponce, Casa Paoli, and Casa de la Masacre. Others, such as Teatro Fox Delicias, Teatro La Perla, Plaza de Mercado, Hotel Meliá, and Paseo Atocha are not listed but possess significant historical value. Street corners in most of this zone have chamfered corners (Spanish: esquinas de chaflán), typical of Barcelona, Spain. Section::::"Plan Ponce en Marcha". In the 1990s an intensive $440 million revitalization  project called ""Plan Ponce en Marcha"" ("Ponce on the Move Plan") has increased the city's historic area from 260 to 1,046 buildings. The "Ponce en Marcha" project was conceived in 1985 by then governor Rafael Hernández Colón during his second term in La Fortaleza. A significant number of buildings in Ponce are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The nonprofit "Project for Public Places" listed the historic downtown Ponce city center as one of the "60 of the World's Great Places", for its "graciously preserved showcase of Caribbean culture". The "Ponce en Marcha" project has given  even more form to the definition, establishment, and development of the Ponce Historic Zone. The plan is the result of litigation between the Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce and the Government of Puerto Rico. The "Ponce en Marcha" plan projects involve several departments of the Government of Puerto Rico: Designation categories. Structures within the historic zone are classified into four categories: Sub-zones. The historic zone itself consists of three distinct sub-zones: In August 2003, Mayor Cordero favored a measure to exclude Belgica, Claussells, and Cantera — all poor, low-income communities — from the historic zone. Ponce Historic