COAMO CITIZENS DENOUNCE DESTRUCTION

OF THEIR HISTORIC HERITAGE

A group of Coamo citizens with different political affiliations have constituted a Committee to denounce and investigate the demolition of buildings in the inside the Historic Zone. The demolition are occurring during weekends and holidays, apparently without the required permits. The most recent demolition destroyed the residence of the now deceased attorney Edmundo Arroyo (see graphic animation above).

According to Héctor Alvarado, speaker for the Committee, the pertinent investigations are underway, including contacting the concerned Commonwealth government agencies like the Instituto de Cultura (Institute of Culture), the Administración de Reglamentos y Permisos (Rules and Permit Administration), the City of Coamo, and others, with the goal of determining if there was compliance with the Reglamento de Zonas Históricas (Historic Zoning Rules). The Centro Cultural José I. Quintón, the local agency in charge of managing the Coamo's cultural and historical heritage, is part of the Committee and is now in the frontline of the investigation.

The Committee meet on April 4, 2002 and has been working on the investigation and dissemination of information since that date. The Committee can be reached by phone at (787) 949-2133 (787) 825-6431, fax (787) 844-9337, or e-mail at lemphoto@hotmail.com . For more information about the investigation visit http://coamo.net/centrocultural/archivo.html (in Spanish only) .

How you can help?

You can send a letter or e-mail of support to the Centro Cultural for their efforts.

• If you have visited our city as a tourist before, please write about your visit and how much you enyoyed the architecture and culture.
  
  
• If you have not visited Coamo yet but will like to on your next vacation, please urge the Centro Cultural to continue their efforts in preserving historical buildings, and how the preservation efforts will attract tourist dollars support the local merchants. For more information about Coamo's architecture, visit http://coamo.net/architecture.html .

The Centro Cultural can be reached at:

Thank You !