Balboa’s gaze will remain fixed, to avoid further damage

Spanish and Brazilian specialists advice that the statue should not be moved

ABDIEL ZÁRATE

Specialists have recommended that it should not be moved from its current site in the former Anayansi Park, Avenida Balboa.

The 85-year-old statue was programmed to be moved to a new place as part of the Coastal Strip project. The National Heritage Department of the National Culture Institute decided that it would be unadvisable to move it because it could put the structure at risk and asked the Ministry of Public Works MOP (Ministerio de Obras Públicas) to leave it at its present location where preservation works will be done.

National Heritage supported recommendations made by Spanish and Brazilian specialists who inspected the monument and site. The MOP has taken the necessary measures and is evaluating new alternatives for the area previously allocated to the monument in the original design. It will also carry out conservation, cleaning, maintenance and reinforcement works as recommended by the National Heritage.

The Minister of Public Works, Benjamin Colamarco said that after analyzing the situation, it was decided not to take the risk of moving it, although part of the Strip’s design has to be altered.

The bronze statue, work of the Valencian sculptor, Mariano Benlliure i Gil, was donated by the Spanish government in 1924 to honor the memory of the discoverer of the South Sea. The monument was to be moved two blocks from its current site.

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