Ponce City Hall
The Ponce City Hall (Spanish: Casa Alcaldía de Ponce) is a historic structure, built in 1840s and located in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is located in the historic downtown district of the city across from famous Plaza Las Delicias and the "Lions Fountain".
History
Historian Eduardo Neumann Gandía, has written that the Ponce City Hall was inaugurated in 1843 on the grounds where the San Antonio de Abad Chapel was initially located. [1] The Ponce City Hall has one of the most unusual histories of any city hall anywhere. Built in 1846 as a place for public assembly, Ponce's current City Hall was the city's jail until the end of the 19th century. The current interior galleries once functioned as cells, and the [[courtyard was used for executions. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, Franklin Roosevelt, and George Bush have spoken from its balcony.[2] The building shares a neoclassical isabelino style, commonly used in other buildings in the city. The Ponce City Hall is the oldest colonial style buidling still standing in Ponce.[3]
Architectural description
The two-story building is made - as it is customary in this part of Puerto Rico - of reinforced concrete. The original building was designed by Francisco Gil Capó, a Spanish architect. The exterior of the structure consists of a fair amount of ornamental ironwork on its main entrance, providing an gracious element of decorative artwork to an otherwise moderate design. From there a single, but majestic gallery leads to two interior patios that incorporate prominent arcades. The public clock, conspicuously set on the front facade of the building, dates to 1877, the year the city was given its city charter by the Spanish crown.
Recent events
City officials have had the foresight of providing proper maintenance to this building. It has undergone several renovations throughout the years, the most recent one under the administration of Mayor Rafael Cordero Santiago, Churumba. [4]
Current use
The Ponce City Hall is currently in active use by the city mayor and the municipal legislative assembly, as well as by members of the city cabinet. There is a considerable amount of interior wall space dedicated to artworks of Puerto Rican musical genre of la plena. Some of the artists that can be appreciated are Francisco Oller and Francisco de Goya There is also an oil painting of Regent Queen María Cristina. [5]
The administrative needs of the municipal government made it necessary to expand the city hall beyond its original historic building, and the current offices of the Ponce city hall occupies the whole block contained between Plaza Degetau, Concordia, Luna, and Marina streets. The original city hall building now sits surrounded by the other city hall buildings that the City has progressively added since the 1980s.
Listing
The Ponce City Hall has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places since November 19, 1986.