Teatro Agua y Luz embarassment

[Santiago Fittipaldi]

I was greatly saddened by news that the Dominican government has authorized the demolition of the Teatro de Agua y Luz (Water and Light Theater) in Santo Domingo. Located in the old fairgrounds where Trujillo held his "International Fair for the Peace and Brotherhood of the Free World" in 1955 - an event that was aimed at both highlighting the Dominican Republic's anti-communist stance and celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Trujillo regime - the open-air theater was later a prominent Santo Domingo landmark known for its lavish floorshows that included a dancing light and waters spectacle as a background. The theater's few rivals, both in terms of beauty and technological advances of the time, could be found only in Europe. However, with the old fairgrounds converted into a government center in later years, the theater was virtually abandoned and fell into disrepair until the Balaguer administration approved its restoration, although doing little to guarantee its long-term physical upkeep and economic viability. Today, the Agua y Luz is doomed to go the same way as so many other buildings in Santo Domingo that have crumbled under the force of a wrecking ball simply because it was easier to demolish them than to face the obligation of keeping them standing as part of the country's history and heritage. This recalls the days when the old Jaragua Hotel, which had also been a witness to some of the most interesting episodes in modern Dominican history and was an Art Deco architectural gem, was torn down to make way for a glitzier version that is architecturally uneventful but conformed to the building fads of the time. The same has happened to countless private residences and public buildings that have been defaced, demolished or "modernized" beyond recognition. More and more, Dominicans are being left with monuments and buildings that either represent the colonial era or the past two decades, while being deprived of many of the structures that were crafted in between - physically erasing part of our history in the process. Sadly, the Agua y Luz will fall victim simply to lack of imagination since there are so many other sites on which to build the proposed convention center that will replace it on the Malecon. Furthermore, let's not forget that the building could have been updated to accomodate other potential ventures, as in the case of another open-air theater/cabaret - Havana's Tropicana - which remains a money-maker for the Cuban tourism industry. One only need to look at old photos to realize that in the 1950s Santo Domingo was an architecturally beautiful city of fine homes, stately public buildings and private structures that gave it a unique style that rivaled Havana or San Juan. Look around you today and you will see only glimpses and small traces of that by-gone time, but the view will be obstructed by highway overpasses, cookie-cutter buildings and shopping malls that will say more about what Dominicans aspire to become than about the greatness that they once had. Demolishing the Agua y Luz should be an embarassment for the government and a sad day for the nation. I can only hope that the same crowds that raised their voices in vain to save the Jaragua in the 1980s will now put in a last-ditch effort to save the Agua y Luz. If not, what else will be reduced to rubble next?

 

[Drake]

I totally agree with you. I remember as a child visiting this spectacle and being very impressed by the display. Having had the good fortune to have been able to travel most of Europe and America both North and South, I have never seen anything like it. What you say about Santo Domingo is very true. Architecturally speaking it lacks a continuous representation of its important history that it holds in the New World. The Art Deco / Neuvo architecture period is slowly being torn down.
I am also not too keen on the designs of modern Santo Domingo. Modern Santiago, Chile is much more appealing, original and interesting for example.

 

[Santiago Fittipaldi]

I'm glad that others agree that "new" isn't always "better". The Agua y Luz will join the old Hotel Jaragua, the Hotel Hamaca in Boca Chica, the old Post Office building in Santo Domingo as structures that were torn down without any regard for their historical or architectural value. There are even worse cases, as when the government razed the entire Victorian quarter of the city of Samana - destroying hundreds of beautiful gingerbread homes - in order to replace it with Soviet-style concrete structures lacking any character or even practicality. I recall many years ago when I interviewed one of the most prominent Dominican architects for an article in the Santo Domingo News, he said that his only regret was having been so insensitive as to deface an old colonial structure on Isabel la Catolica Street in order to "modernize" it and convert it into a bank branch. However, there doesn't seem to be any outcry from these same architects when the work of their predecessors - often their professors - is torn down, slowly wiping away the legacy of Dominican architecture. I think that we should always remember the quote of one American architectural critic who said that our civilization will be judged not by the monuments we build, but instead by those that we destroy.

 

[Santiago Fittipaldi]

By the way, since the Agua y Luz has been closed for many years, most people have not had a chance to see the inside of the building and even fewer have enjoyed the magnificent water and light spectacle. To most Santo Domingo residents, it is just a non-descript concrete structure on the Malecon. However, if anyone is interested in experiencing what it is that will be lost with its upcoming demolition, go out and rent the movie "The Godfather II". In one memorable scene in which Al Pacino is supposed to be at the Tropicana nightclub in Havana, the scene was filmed entirely at the Agua y Luz in Santo Domingo. You will be able to see the dancing fountains and lights. For a series of circumstances, I happened to be at the Agua y Luz on one of the nights that they filmed the scene and remember how some of the foreign actors were raving about the beauty of the place. For your last - and most likely first ever -peek inside the Agua y Luz, rent the movie.

 

[Tony Castaneira]

The teatro agua & Luz time has come and gone. The show, which might have been considered spectacular in the 50's and 60's, is just a quaint old relic. As for converting it to a cabaret like the Tropicana? The Tropicana continues mainly on its reputation and history. Any venture trying to replicate it would fail. Just look at what has happened to the old style entertainment in Las Vegas.

The Jaragua was anything but attractive. The main building reminded me of old style Soviet housing project. What made the jaragua great was what was inside. But like the Teatro Agua& luz its time has come and gone.

 

[Santiago Fittipaldi]

Tony, I think that your assessment is a bit schewed. I don't know where you get your information on the Tropicana not being able to be replicated since it has now opened branches even in Europe, or when you say that Las Vegas floorshows are a thing of the past when they, together with casinos, account for the both the hotels' and city's main sources of revenue. Interestingly, while you had no problem in explaining why the Agua y Luz and Jaragua deserved their doom, you seemed to have ignored the issue of the mass-scale destruction of the old town of Samana which I also mentioned as a way to illustrate our government's lack of understanding when it comes to historical preservation. We must realize that our country has very lax preservation and landmarking laws, and that when enforced these aim to preserve the city's Spanish colonial heritage almost exclusively. Yet, our country is much more than what it was 500 years ago and all of the periods that we have experienced have contributed something - including architecture - to the fabric that makes up who we are today. Some things are saved not for their beauty, but for what they represent in terms of a nation's heritage. Have you ever had a good look at the "Monument" in Santiago? It would be difficult for anyone to say that it is a work of beauty. In fact, it's a rather unintersting structure. However, it is preserved for what it represents for Santiago's history. If we didn't have some respect for some of the world's "quaint old relics", the Egyptians would have long ago demolished the Pyramids to put up a shopping mall in their place. I'm sure you must have your bulldozer ready to go.

 

[Tony Castaneira]

Santiago,

Samana is a different issue. And as for the Monument in Santiago.... It's a monument. It serves no other purpose than to commemorate an event or person(I forgot what that thing was for.)

The Days of the old style Vegas Cabarete are dying away. Last year when I went I could only find 2. Now people want name entertainers and magic acts. Go figure!

Now the old jaragua was a hotel that had become obselete! The plumbing was failing and the electrical system was dangerous. The rooms were small and badly laid out by modern standards. So do we keep a Building that is unprofitable just because it was old? They could have preserved it and then what? We can all admire an ugly building that is empty. Any preservation in the Capital should be directed to some of the buildings by parque indepedencia. I have long admired many of the Art-Deco buidings there. or in Gazcque.