According to the International Council on Monuments and Sites (Icomos) in the Dominican Republic, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is opposed to the renovation project approved by the Ministry of Tourism for the San Francisco Ruins that would be sponsored with funds from the IDB loan for the Colonial City of Santo Domingo.
The UNESCO World Heritage Center issued its official report on the project to create an events center at the San Francisco Ruins in the Colonial City in December 2015. It establishes that the project presented by Spanish architect Rafael Moneo “is invasive and affects the integrity of the ruins, which would become secondary components and lose their prominence against the overwhelming impact of the proposal.” The UNESCO center says that the proposed intervention negatively affects the integrity and authenticity of the monument and does not respect UNESCO World Heritage site preservation standards.
UNESCO was asked for its technical review because the Colonial City of Santo Domingo, where the San Francisco Ruins is located, is a World Heritage Site.
The renovation proposed by the Ministry of Tourism was met with widespread rejection from many quarters, including the Dominican Committee of the ICOMOS, the Cultural Heritage Department (Direccion Nacional de Patrimonio Monumental), the Santo Domingo city government, the Academy of Sciences, the UNPHU University and the Society of Architects.
Unesco recommends the rejection of the Rafael Moneo project, completion of archaeological and general research on the monument, preparation of a new project for the consolidation and appropriate use of the ruins through interventions that do not alter it, which meet UNESCO and ICOMOS principles and to involve competent bodies in cultural heritage matters.
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias/ciudad/unesco-rechaza-el-proyecto-de-rescate-de-las-ruinas-de-san-francisco-YA2626818
