The Language School on Ayuntamiento Street, considered part of the city’s architectural heritage, is in danger of collapse. / 14ymedio

During the rainy season, moisture widens the cracks in the old buildings along Milanes Street, causing balconies, cornices, and even entire facades to collapse.

By Pablo Padilla Cruz (14ymedio)

HAVANA TIMES – After every heavy rain, many residents of downtown Matanzas avoid walking on the sidewalks. Instead, they choose to walk in the streets despite the traffic, hoping to stay away from cracked facades, deteriorating balconies, and cornices that could fall without warning.

Fear spread once again a few days ago when part of the facade of an old building collapsed on Milanes Street. The debris fell onto the street, posing a danger to both pedestrians and vehicles, although no one was injured.

The collapse came as no surprise to those who live in the city’s oldest neighborhoods. With the arrival of the summer rains, residents take extra precautions when passing the many buildings that have gone many years without maintenance and show obvious signs of deterioration.

“For us, the rainy season is almost as dangerous as hurricane season,” says Yanislady, a resident of the Pueblo Nuevo neighborhood. She notes that many of the city’s oldest homes are more than a century old, and that moisture worsens cracks, leaks, and the weakening of roofs and walls.

“Several years ago we had a particularly disastrous rainy season. After every downpour, it was common to hear that someone’s house had collapsed on them,” she explains. She does not recall any fatalities, but she does remember numerous rescues of people trapped beneath the rubble.

Yanislady says that the restoration work carried out in 2018 for the 325th anniversary of Matanzas focused on landmark buildings and a few blocks in the historic center, while many buildings in surrounding neighborhoods were left untouched.

Classes continued at the Language School until part of the building collapsed. / 14ymedio

“They restored the Sauto Theater and a few downtown areas, but the work never reached all the neighborhoods,” she laments. “That’s why, after it rains, you see people walking down the middle of the street. They do it to avoid the danger, or, at the very least, to have time to react if a facade comes crashing down.”

Among the buildings causing the greatest concern is the former Language School on Ayuntamiento Street. The building, with its distinctive architecture and regarded by residents as part of the city’s heritage, is in an advanced state of deterioration.

“They came and put up a ‘Danger of Collapse’ sign, but classes continued there anyway,” says Israel, who lives nearby. The warning sign is still there, although the building has yet to receive comprehensive repairs.

The “Danger of Collapse” sign remains in front of the former Language School, across from the Collective Law Office. / 14ymedio

Israel recalls that a similar situation occurred at the Workers’ and Farmers’ School, located a few blocks away on Rio Street. Classes continued there despite structural damage until part of the building finally collapsed.

“Only then did they shut it down and move the school to the Provincial School of Economics,” Israel says. “It seems the authorities wait until something falls before taking action.”

The danger posed by the former Language School extends beyond the condition of the building itself. Directly across the street is the Matanzas 2 Collective Law Office, one of the busiest legal offices in the city. Every morning, dozens of people wait on the sidewalk there to take care of legal matters.

“If that building comes down, I hope we’re as lucky as we were on Milanes Street,” Israel says, pointing toward the law office entrance. “The lines here are enormous, and many people spend hours standing right in front of that facade.”

“The day something happens, they’ll come, say the same three foolish things they always say, and then leave again,” he adds. “In the end, it’s the ordinary Cuban who pays the price, crushed beneath the building.”

The danger is not confined to the historic center or neighborhoods with the greatest concentration of colonial-era buildings. In La Playa, an area with relatively newer construction, there are also buildings that threaten public safety. One of them is the former Esperanza de America Daycare Center on General Betancourt Avenue. Landy, a neighborhood resident, has posted photographs and warnings in Facebook groups dedicated to Matanzas in an effort to draw attention to the building’s deterioration.

The former Esperanza de America Daycare Center on General Betancourt Avenue is also in danger of collapse. / 14ymedio

General Betancourt Avenue, together with the Viaduct, is one of the busiest thoroughfares in the city. Every day it carries cars, buses, motorcycles, bicycles, and countless pedestrians.

“If one of the daycare center’s columns comes down, I don’t even want to imagine what could happen,” Landy warns. “You can’t gamble with people’s lives.”

He believes that the constant deterioration of the city, combined with the many worries residents already face, has also reduced people’s ability to notice these dangers.

“People are more stressed every day. Sometimes it’s hard enough just to pay attention to the traffic lights, let alone keep an eye on roofs and columns.”

Landy says his public warnings are intended to force provincial authorities to act before a tragedy occurs.

“Let’s see if this province’s government does something other than hold ceremonies in its priority districts and finally has the decency to carry out the necessary repairs,” he says, instead of merely putting up warning signs or cordoning off unstable facades with tape.

First published in Spanish by 14ymedio and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.

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