MÉRIDA, Yucatan – On Friday, October 20th, the state government announced that the executive project for the restoration and rehabilitation of the “José Peón Contreras” theater has been completed, which will continue the rescue work of this building inaugurated in 1908.
Although some rehabilitation work has already been carried out at the site, this executive project was missing, the result of a coordinated effort between the Federal Ministry of Culture, the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), and the state government.
According to a press release from the state government, the project was carefully prepared due to the historical and symbolic importance of the property and contemplated an investment of 120 million pesos.
This amount is being allocated to restoration, renovation, rehabilitation, and equipment works for the preservation of this emblematic theater in Mérida.
As will be recalled, the fire at the theater occurred on Tuesday, November 1, 2022, which mainly caused damage to the third level of the theater, and the most notorious damage was to the mural on the dome.
There was also damage to furniture such as doors, windows, and stained glass windows, as well as electrical installations, lighting, ducts, and pipes.
The proscenium, the exterior balconies of the third-level boxes and galleries, as well as the foyer ceiling, show a large accumulation of soot and, in some cases loss and detachment of the plasterwork reliefs.
Therefore, through the project, three general aspects will be rehabilitated: the architecture, the mural, and the civil work.
Previously, a restoration team has worked on the recovery of the pieces that were detached from the mural; and they have made a survey, cleaning, and registration by quadrants of the fragments of mural painting and plasterwork detached.
To date, 12 million pesos have been invested in all these works.
TYT Newsroom