CUBA
Tourism is restoring the buildings of Old Havana
Old Havana's grand old structures have been crumbling for years, but an
innovative program is restoring them -- and upgrading housing for
residents as well.
BY MIKE WILLIAMS
Cox News Service
HAVANA --
It's one of the hemisphere's architectural treasures, but in a country
of scarce resources, saving the crumbling buildings of Old Havana might
easily have been overlooked.
Instead, Cuba has slowly but steadily restored some of the oldest -- and
most gorgeous -- buildings in the Americas. The innovative plan has also
funded social programs and housing reconstruction, making it a model for
historic districts around the world, experts say.
''It's a self-financing, self-sustaining model,'' said Herman Van Hooff,
a United Nations cultural official based in Havana. ``It's an integrated
vision of restoration and providing services to the population. It has
matured into a model with valuable concepts for other places.''
The unique part of Cuba's plan has been its strategy of restoring old
hotels, restaurants and buildings to attract tourists and then using
tourism revenue to fund more restoration, along with social programs and
housing renovation, one of Cuba's most pressing problems.
But the work hasn't been without its challenges.
One of the biggest problems facing planners is also a main source of Old
Havana's charm: The district's narrow streets are packed with people,
with some 66,000 residents crammed into an area of less than 1.5 square
miles.
Water and sewer lines are in poor condition, and some buildings have
already collapsed. On many streets, visitors see crumbling facades,
leaning walls and teetering roofs propped up with wooden scaffolding.
FAMILIES STAY
But families continue living in even the most dilapidated buildings. Old
men play dominoes on street corners, younger men tinker under the hoods
of ancient cars and housewives hang wash from wrought-iron balconies,
pausing to peer at the busy street life below.
Small wonder that few of the residents want to leave. The district's
charm -- and the opportunity to make money from the thousands of
tourists strolling its streets -- are powerful attractions.
Planners have responded by constructing new apartments in refurbished
old buildings, allowing many families who want to stay in the district
to remain. The pace is slow, but as the tourism infrastructure has
expanded, more revenues are being channeled into social programs. While
only 57 buildings were restored between 1981 and 1993, nearly 300 were
refurbished between 1994 and 2004.
Belkys Collaza is one resident who has moved out of a decaying building
and into a spacious new apartment provided by the Cuban government at
low cost.
''We couldn't be happier,'' said Collaza, 39. ``In the old apartment we
had seven people with two bedrooms and it was falling down. Here we have
three bedrooms for four people, and best of all, we are still in Old
Havana.''
Havana's roots stretch back to the early 1500s, when its deep, protected
harbor made it the perfect spot to assemble the famous treasure fleets
that took New World gold and silver back to Spain.
By 1750, the city was a thriving commercial and government center with
striking buildings in the baroque and neo-classical styles. Expansion
continued during the 1800s as Cuba became a rich sugar and tobacco colony.
A LONG DECLINE
But Old Havana -- the city's district next to its port -- began a long
decline as the rich built mansions on the city's outskirts and new
business districts cropped up.
Restoration efforts date back to the 1930s, but the work was poorly
funded. Even after Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution, Cuba's focus was on
developing agriculture and raising living standards for the rural poor.
Old Havana continued to deteriorate, despite the efforts of the Office
of the Havana Historian.
While the district was officially declared a protected national monument
in 1978 and designated as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations in
1982, only a few dozen buildings were restored in the 1980s.
A new setback came in the early 1990s with the collapse of the Soviet
Union, which for decades had provided billions in subsidies to Cuba.
But Cuba turned to tourism to revive its economy, and Old Havana became
a key part of the plan.
Félix Alfonso, a Cuban historian involved in the project, admitted that
Old Havana's complete restoration will take decades. But he's encouraged
that the enterprise is financing itself and keeping the residents in the
district they love.
''I think what makes the restoration unique is that it's an example not
of gentrification, where the rich buy and restore buildings while the
poor are moved out,'' he said. ``Our historical center is remaining a
place where people live and work.''
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