A report in the Listin Diario today states that the government contract signed with Dawn Properties Limited authorizes the company to build a hotel on the grounds of the Agua y Luz water and lights theater and to operate a casino.
Teodoro Tejada of the Colegio Dominicano de Ingenieros Arquitectos y Agrimensores (Codia) commenting on the contract stated: “All that is but a whim for them to destroy that and build what they feel like. They already took over the area of the Agua y Luz to build the Migration and Passport office and that was an aberration, never should have taken the parking to build that. To build, you do not have to destroy, that is not the area to build a grand hotel. What they want from the government is to buy the property at dirt cheap prices. We at Codia would like to see how this property was assessed,” he stated.
He said that the Teatro Agua y Luz is a heritage of Dominicans. He said that in the name of modernizing, you cannot destroy. In his opinion, the Teatro Agua y Luz could be turned into a popular show hall. He also lamented the situation of the Parque Eugenio Maria de Hostos, that has also fallen in abandonment.
The hall was inaugurated on 20 December 1955 as part of the Feria de la Paz y Confraternidad del Mundo Libre World Fair. It was the work of a specialist in water and lights works, architect Carlos Buigas Sans, as reported in the Listin Diario. It Dancers from Lido of Paris performed there in its early years, and the performance of Spanish singer, Rafael de Espana is legendary.
It was restored by the late President Joaquin Balaguer in his latest term, but then leased to cook Mike Mercedes who did not run a successful operation and it again fell into abandonment. In the meanwhile, the past government of President Leonel Fernandez authorized the taking over of its parking area for the Migration Department.