Two more buildings have been added to the medical complex under construction on the grounds of the old Perla Antillana horse-racing track. A nursing school and an outpatient consultation building have been added to the “Plaza de la Salud”, complementing the maternity-infant, geriatric, and traumatology hospitals, together with the Center for Advanced Medicine, the headquarters of the Dominican Red Cross, and the Civil Defense department. The nursing school and outpatient consultation building are in the early stages of construction; the first buildings to be completed will be the maternity-infant, geriatric and traumatology hospitals. The complete complex, which will be known as the Centro de Diagnóstico de Medicina Avanzada, is scheduled to be completed and opened before 16 August, apparently under orders of President Balaguer, who would like to conduct the official opening before the end of his term on that date.
The 283,000 square meters on the grounds of the old horse-racing track are still being claimed by the city council. The mayor of Santo Domingo, Rafael Subervi Bonilla, has started a law suit against the construction company contracted by the central government to build the complex. It seems unlikely, however, that the case will halt the work on the buildings.
19-25 April 1996