Casco Viejo’s Hotel Central Comes Down

Just minutes ago, at about 3:50 p.m., there was a loud crumbling noise and clouds of dust as a portion of the Hotel Central in Cathedral Plaza collapsed.  Fortunately, reports indicate that no one was under the mounds of rock that are blocking the street, and a nearby parked car narrowly escaped destruction.  Construction workers ran out wearing hard hats seconds later, right before another portion of the wall fell to pieces.

Hildegard Vasquez, an architect and President of the Calicanto Foundation, told La Prensa that the Spanish investor-backed renovation is nothing more than “a devastating intervention that has no respect whatsoever for the country’s heritage.”

The renovation project is reportedly suspended until further notice.