SAN LUIS POTOSÍ, Mexico.- The roof of the Lorenzo Padilla Díaz Museum of Art of Matanzas (MAM) collapsed recently, after having remained for more than a year with severe structural damage that has not been able to be amended due to bureaucratic obstacles and deficits budget, as revealed in a report by the local media Giron.
With some 2,000 pieces that include a collection of African art – the most valuable in the country – and engravings by Rembrandt, the property located on Contreras Street, which also contains the offices of the Registry of Cultural Assets, closed after a piece of the roof “gave in.”
The managers of the museum had warned of the deplorable construction state of the nineteenth-century building since the end of 2023, according to Giron Jenny Páez Morales, museum specialist at the center.
“The collapse occurred in silence and due to the delay, according to her, of some entities responsible for ensuring its conservation,” the note states.
When the probable collapse was located in the area that contained the Registry offices, they had to be relocated to the permanent exhibition rooms of the Art Museum, further limiting the space available for the pieces.
Bielka Cantillo González, provincial director of Heritage, confirmed that a termite infestation weakened the structure and caused the drop from the roof.
“The recovery strategy was drawn up from the end of 2023 and there was talk of shoring up to avoid a collapse,” he said. However, they had to wait until the following year to request a budget and carry out any constructive action.
“It took a long time. The wood was purchased in San Miguel de los Baños. They coordinated with the person who was going to look for them in a truck and the person who would carry out the shoring. But what took a long time, too long, was the authorization for the fuel,” added Jenny Páez Morales.
This year, although they got the pillars, they were not large enough for the height of the building, and they had to order longer ones. “From then until the date of the collapse, approximately four months passed, and about 70 liters could not be transported to Matanzas due to the lack of oil,” the text stated.
“This year I wanted to shore up and have a new beam and slab deck made. With the current situation in the country, I cannot have it manufactured, because there is no steel or cement. They reduced our financing by 50%. One year’s money is not enough to demolish and rebuild at the same time,” concluded the provincial director of Heritage.
Although they have just been granted a new headquarters on Calle Medio, the site requires “capital repair,” “although it is already in its early stages of development; That is, they have removed the debris from inside and cleaned it a little.”
Furthermore, it would require a “large investment” to be able to accommodate it to the needs of the Museum of Modern Art and with the budget assigned to it each year its completion will take time. “The repair will be done little by little, a penny here, a penny there.”
