Pasaje Picheta, after 19 months of renovations, due to open this month
The Pasaje Picheta may reopen sometime this month after a reconstruction project that began in December 2017.
That’s not a typo. It’s taken 19 months, going on 20, to renovate the small shopping arcade adjacent to the Government Palace. Originally the passage was slated to reopen last October.
Workers presumably found it challenging working on one of Merida’s most antique buildings, which was built in 1639 as a prison. Its present incarnation as a shopping center started in 1993 after years of abandonment.
Architect’s drawings suggest a more modernistic arcade to come, with an information booth, shops, plenty of art and a balcony to enjoy a direct view of the Plaza Grande.
The project is in its final stage while the CFE replaces a transformer, said Mauricio Diaz Montalvo, director of the Board of Cultural and Tourist Units of the State (Cultur).
“We want the opening in July,” he said. “Gov. Mauricio Vila Dosal has asked me to do an inspection visit first where we can invite the media to see the condition of the place, what was done and what changes were made; we also want to make a quick fix without more expenses, reorganizing things, making it more attractive for people to enter the site and of course we accept suggestions,” he explained.
He said that the reopening date will depend on agreements reached between the CFE and Institute for the Construction and Conservation of Public Works in Yucatan (Inccopy).
Work began under the previous state administration with a budget of 17 million pesos.
Source: Sipse
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