Four months after the fire at the José Peón Contreras Theater, it was corroborated that the property has acquired an insurance policy for 48 million pesos, an amount that would allow the restoration of the building in the face of the damage caused on November 1, 2022, revealed the Ministry of Administration and Finance (SAF).
The insurance contract of the SAF was with the company Chubb Seguros México, Sociedad Anónima, located in Mexico City, with insured number 9775925.
The term of the insurance is for one year, which began at noon on February 15, 2022, to conclude in the same period but in 2023, for which reason it was in force when the accidents occurred, according to policy N1 42002465.
Regarding the coverage for “Fire and explosion of the building”, the amount was 48 million pesos.
The awarding process was carried out by the Secretariat of Culture and Arts (SEDECULTA), during the second month of 2022.
The cause of the fire was a short circuit registered on the third floor of the building, which spread to the upper part, according to the report issued by experts from the State Attorney General’s Office (FGE).
After processing the fire at the site, the FGE specialists, in coordination with personnel from the State Civil Protection Coordination (Procivy), corroborated that the fire was caused in the aforementioned part of the building.
The parts most affected are: the central dome; the third level of the stalls where the audio booth is located, affecting the center to the right of the corridors, as well as some lamps hanging over the main lobby.
On January 31, the work of a technical committee that came from Mexico City concluded, as part of the tasks of the expert appraisal to quantify the losses, as well as to evaluate the structural damages of this architectural jewel built at the beginning of the 20th century and inaugurated in December 1908.
At the conclusion of the diagnosis, the survey of damages, and the total evaluation of the restoration, the director of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) Yucatán, José Arturo Chab Cárdenas, affirmed that the cost for the restoration of the building would be 100 million pesos, so the work at the Peón Contreras could be ready in the second half of 2024.
The work to be carried out will be in three stages, and in the first phase they will work with the State Government, for which reason a collaboration agreement will be signed shortly through Sedeculta.
He explained that in the first stage work would be done in the galleries, the access area and the main staircase, and the time required would be about six months, so that between July and September this part of the building would be open to the public.
In the second stage, the work will concentrate on the interior, specifically, on the great gallery, and in the last part the dome and the decorative elements, which “are artistic and historical heritage”, will be contemplated.
At the end of the restoration work on the Peón Contreras, it will be in optimal conditions for its use and exploitation, so that it can continue its function as a theater.
TYT Newsroom
