By Susana Antón Rodríguez on May 31, 2022
Saratoga Hotel, photo: Bill Hackwell
After the unfortunate explosion that occurred at the Saratoga Hotel on May 6, not just a few of the surrounding buildings were also affected.
After several days of intense work, the Concepción Arenal elementary school is in the process of completion, and this week should conclude the work according to, Orlando Vigil Valdés, head of the Havana Coordinating Group for the Ministry of Construction (Micons).
He pointed out that at the moment the actions are focused on assembling the exterior doors, and the Ministry of Education is working on furnishing the floors with the necessary elements for the early start of classes, although at a later time it will be necessary to reassemble the carpentry of the façade and other original ironwork.
Damages in another nearby facility, the National Capitol, have been practically repaired, and what is still pending will be recovered with time, but it does not affect the functions carried out in that State entity, explained Yohanna Aedo Gutiérrez, director of Investments of the Office of the Historian of the City of Havana.
Preserving the heritage environment
On the second day after the accident, she recalled, that one of the first actions taken by the Office at the Martí Theater was to clean up the debris and recover what could be reused, dismantling the carpentry and classifying the ironwork and the dislodged grates.
In the structural damage of the Theater the specialists concluded that the first bay (the inter columns of the building) was the one that suffered the most from the impact of the explosion, in addition to the almost total loss of the false ceilings of that space and the lighting of the façade.
In conjunction with the company Restaura, belonging to the Office of the Historian, a diagnosis was also made of the structure of the original wooden trusses or frames – restored at the time – and the sandwich roof covering the facility.
Engineer Aedo Gutiérrez pointed out that the truss had 11 beams out of place, and it was proposed, as a solution, to put some of similar wood, unload the damaged ones, fix them and put them back in place, a process in which the specialists are already working on and which will define the vitality of this emblematic cultural facility.
Regarding the roof, she pointed out that some of its metallic pieces were bent and they are in the process of putting them back in place or looking for possibilities for waterproofing them.
The Director of Investments of the Office of the Historian pointed out that, in order to give vitality to the Theater, after solving the mentioned problems, the fire and intruder protection, security, lighting and sound systems, among other elements, still need to be fixed. “The commitment made by the Office is to reopen the Martí Theater next September, on the occasion of Dr. Eusebio Leal Spengler’s 80th birthday,” he assured.
Engineer Aedo Gutiérrez pointed out that the main damage to the building occupied by the Yoruba Cultural Association is on its façade, where actions are already being carried out to change the wooden carpentry.
He pointed out that the El Calvario Baptist Church, a heritage building that suffered major damage, as it directly adjoins the Saratoga Hotel, is also being repaired.
At this moment, the directive commented, the company Servicios Especializados de la Construcción (Secons) and the Empresa Nacional de Investigaciones Aplicadas (ENIA) are demolishing in a controlled manner some structures, while at the same time they are shoring up and consolidating the affected parts of the facility.
When the danger is over and the building is properly shored up, the stage of analyzing what can be saved and how to reverse the situation will begin. Once this work is completed, he said, the Office of the Historian will carry out the restoration of the Church and the two annexed houses, which were also totally damaged.
He said that, when the temporary facilities in the area are decentralized, the idea is to restore vitality to the Fuente de la India and the surroundings of the populous Parque de la Fraternidad.
Recovering housing, a fundamental task
Regarding the residential buildings in the block that were affected by the Saratoga incident, the Head of the Coordinating Group of Havana for the Micons commented that, in the case of the Prado 609 building, it was evacuated and the belongings were handed over to its tenants.
He added that this week the process of shoring up the building will begin so that the enia and other companies can start the pertinent studies, always with the objective of maintaining the same façade.
He said that the building at Zulueta 512 is in the process of demolition, and it is estimated that the work will take approximately two months. Then the Office of the Historian will work on a proposal for new housing for that space and for the corner of Monte and Zulueta.
Source: Cuba en Resumen