Despite the deterioration, something of its grandeur can still be appreciated.
14ymedio, Havana, 26 June 2024 — The historic House of Doña Luz Godínez de Diago, marked thus on the maps, a 19th-century building in Havana, no longer exists as such. This Wednesday the property, number 1360 Calzada del Cerro, suffered the collapse of part of its facade and the roof. “It has been a relief, because that building had been in danger of collapse for years, and all of us who live nearby feared that it would end in tragedy,” a neighbor of the two-storey house tells 14ymedio. Demolition work has forced the cut-off of electrical service in the area.
“Yesterday we noticed that a bit of sand was falling, and shortly thereafter we heard the roar,” explains the woman standing in front of the house that once belonged to one of the families of the Havana aristocracy who sought refuge in the Cerro neighborhood, two centuries ago, to leave behind the intramural city, its noises and its miasmas. The house has gone through several uses in recent decades, from private to state.
“Yesterday we noticed that a bit of sand was falling, and shortly thereafter we heard the roar”
“No one lives at the front next to the facade, but behind there are several families,” the woman explains to this newspaper. This Wednesday, a demolition team, with a lift for two workers with sledgehammers to demolish the walls, was in front of the building located between Patria and Saravia streets. “They’re going to have to hurry because it looks like a tremendous downpour is coming,” said another nearby resident.
The huge debris from the collapse occupies part of the road that leads to the famous corner of Tejas, a commercial node also fallen out of favor, then continues to Monte Street and the Capitolio of Havana. The fragments of walls and columns have an impressive size. “Incredible that they haven’t crushed a car,” added a curious person who watched the operatio
