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Ponce Servicios

1981 in Puerto Rico2013 establishments in Puerto RicoBrutalist architectureBuildings and structures in Ponce, Puerto RicoCommercial buildings completed in 1981
Historic districts in Puerto RicoModernist architecture in Puerto RicoTourist attractions in Ponce, Puerto Rico
Ponce Servicios, C. Salud y C. Estrella, Bo. Quinto, Ponce, Puerto Rico, mirando hacia el noroeste (DSC07213)
Ponce Servicios, C. Salud y C. Estrella, Bo. Quinto, Ponce, Puerto Rico, mirando hacia el noroeste (DSC07213)

Ponce Servicos, formerly Plaza del Mercado Juan Bigas, is a brutalist municipal building located Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is the largest building in the municipality in terms of footprint area and the only one that occupies an entire city block. The structure was built in 1981 as a way to provide a modern, air-conditioned, structure for the merchants and shoppers of the historic but aging Plaza de Mercado Isabel II building, while the latter underwent restoration. On its opening day it was named Plaza del Mercado Juan Bigas, in honor of Juan Bigas Moulins, the Ponce businessman by that name. Upon its opening, some of the former fruits-and-vegetables merchants from the old Plaza del Mercado Isabel II building moved in, but many did not. Objections ranged from rent being too high to not providing the friendly atmosphere of the old Isabel II building provided because many perceived this brutalist architecture building as one that did not carry on the important city historic values conveyed by the old Art Deco Plaza del Mercado Isabel II building. In spite of these objections, the new building was used as a fruits-and-vegetables farm market plaza for 26 years, until 2007, when the restoration of the older Isabel II building was completed. On that year (2007), Plaza del Mercado Juan Bigas building was vacated, and merchants moved back to restored Plaza del Mercado Isabel II building, and the building came to be known simply as the Juan Bigas Building. The Juan Bigas building then sat unused for three years, until 2010. In that year, after negotiations between the central and municipal governments, the Government of Puerto Rico transferred the structure to the Ponce Municipal Government. The Ponce municipal government reconditioned the building, now no longer called Plaza del Mercado Juan Bigas, but simply Edificio Juan Bigas (Juan Bigas Building) for use as office space for several municipal agencies. In October 2013, the Ponce Municipal Government reopened the building as a multi-agency municipal building offering a mix of municipal services to its residents and christened it "Ponce Servicios" (Ponce Services).

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Ponce Servicios (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Ponce Servicios
Calle Guadalupe, Ponce Quinto (Quinto)

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Wikipedia: Ponce ServiciosContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 18.01582 ° E -66.61212 °
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Calle Guadalupe

Calle Guadalupe
00730 Ponce, Quinto (Quinto)
Puerto Rico, United States
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Ponce Servicios, C. Salud y C. Estrella, Bo. Quinto, Ponce, Puerto Rico, mirando hacia el noroeste (DSC07213)
Ponce Servicios, C. Salud y C. Estrella, Bo. Quinto, Ponce, Puerto Rico, mirando hacia el noroeste (DSC07213)
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Museo de la Historia de Ponce
Museo de la Historia de Ponce

The Museo de la Historia de Ponce (Museum of the History of Ponce) is a local history museum located in the historic Casa Salazar-Candal in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The museum depicts the city's ecology, economy, architecture, government, and elements of daily life. It seeks to promote the research, conservation, and dissemination of the historic heritage of Ponce and Puerto Rico.Inaugurated on 12 December 1992, it was the first museum in Puerto Rico established to cover the history of the people of a town or city. It traces the city's history from the Taino Indians to today. The museum was inaugurated under the administration of Mayor Rafael Cordero Santiago, as part of the tricentennial celebration of the founding of the city.It is located in the historic district of the city, a short two-block walk from the central Plaza Las Delicias town square, at the southeast corner of Isabel and Mayor Cantera streets. The museum proper is housed in the historic Casa Salazar-Candal but also includes the neighboring Rosali-Zapater house, which houses administratives offices of the museum, in addition to the empty lot that once held the residence of the Schuck Gelpí family. In 2012, plans were announced to expand the museum into the Casa Rosita Serrallés, an adjacent property. In 2014, Casa Rosita Serralles (Calle Salud street #67) joined Museo de la Historia de Ponce and opened as "Museo de la Recordacion Barrio Mameyes" (Barrio Mameyes Memorial Museum) under Ponce mayor María Meléndez. It is also known as "Sala Memorial del Barrio Mameyes" as it operates as a part of the Museo de la Historia de Ponce.