Over time, the “San Juan de Dios” hospital building was destroyed, which represented a neoclassical architectural jewel for the people of Granada, built in 1905. The medical center stopped working in 1998, when the Japan-Nicaragua Friendship Hospital was built. , where they now provide due medical attention to the population of this city.
The liberal and Sandinista mayors never had among their priorities to restore this emblematic building, which collapsed over time, and the actions of criminals, who looted its wood, iron and part of the roof.
«In their campaigns, most of the candidates for mayors of the city of Granada promised to restore the building of the old “San Juan de Dios” hospital, to preserve it as part of the history of the city, but none complied and in the end everything was left as a promise,” stressed an opposition politician.
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Archives of journalistic publications testify that in September 2013, the roofs of the front of the old building collapsed, due to the rains and lack of maintenance. At present, the side walls built with talpuja and lime are destroyed, and the only thing that stands out on the property is the undergrowth.
Ortega use
Since 2020, when the former mayor Julia Mena was absent and the later dismissed Sandinista mayor Pedro Vargas took office, the local authorities decided to occupy the land of the old hospital as a parking lot for the community’s heavy machinery, for which they were forced to to keep watch on the premises.
The Vargas administration tried to start the building restoration project, but only a few paneled bricks were placed on the façade and ornamental plants were planted. Greater progress has never been seen.
The front of the old hospital in Granada became a catwalk for the Nicaragua Diseña platform, by Camila Ortega, daughter of the ruling couple.
“Within the Investment Plan for the year 2020, an item of more than six million córdobas was approved to build the first stage of the municipal theater on the grounds of the historic hospital, but we see that the work never began, and on the contrary, they were sent to build buildings, to move the offices of the mayor’s office, where today the Sandinista mayor Rosario Caldera is working, after the Municipal Palace was burned in the political context of 2018,” a municipal source stressed.
In recent years, the front of the hospital was ordered to be illuminated, after Camila Ortega, the daughter of dictators Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, decided to occupy this historic site as a catwalk for her Nicaragua Diseña fashion platform. There, the building authorities and the Institute of Tourism worked together to execute the fashion ambitions of the daughter of the presidential couple, despite the fact that the event does not generate any income in the coffers of the commune.
Projects, only on paper
In 2016, the municipality of Granada approved, within the Municipal Investment Plan, an item of five million córdobas to formulate a restoration project for the old “San Juan de Dios” hospital, where they intended to give it different uses, including a health center. conventions, a market for the sale of handicrafts and even the municipal library.
Bookstores, a craft market and a hotel are part of the projects to be built in the old San Juan de Dios hospital in Granada.
“This building, built more than 100 years ago, represents a historical relic for the people of Granada, who today regret that the different municipal governments never made its restoration a priority. We are talking about a city that lives on tourism, where visitors get to know one of the oldest cities in Latin America that next year will celebrate 500 years of history,” said a prominent Granadan who spoke anonymously.
In 2017, the director of Public Works of the Granada mayor’s office, the engineer Alonso Cano, announced that the old Granada hospital will be a hotel that will be executed under the figure of a concession, clarifying that the commune cannot sell, neither alienate, nor give away a municipal patrimony. But that’s another plan.
By: United Voices.
