Fundación del Centro Histórico de la Ciudad de México, A. C.

The Fundación del Centro Histórico de la Ciudad de México, A. C., (Historical Center of Mexico City) is an organization through which, members of the civil society perform work to protect, restore, rescue and revitalize the Historical Center of Mexico City.  This work is shared with other government agencies, corporations and other programs implemented by the private sector.

Since the Foundation’s incorporation in 2002, it has created a series of socioeconomic, education and cultural programs destined to improve the standard of living of people that live in the district, besides encouraging the development of conditions for their well being with support to education, employment, health and social integration through culture and the constant promotion of artists and other social science professionals interested in developing projects for this specific area.

Background

“We do not want a Historical Center recovered, restored and lifeless, alone and abandoned. And furthermore, less do we want a majestic and magnificent museum piece full of ghosts.  We want to rehabilitate it after so many years of deterioration, but also live it and feel that we are part of it as we get to know it better”. Carlos Slim Helú, Executive Chairman of the Historical Center Rescue Advisory Board (C.C.R.C.H., as per initials in Spanish).

The CCRCH was created on August 14, 2001.  The objective of this organization is to rescue and preserve the Mexico City Historical Center.  The Federal Government, the Federal District Government (GDF, as per initials in Spanish) and civil society participate in it.  The latter is represented by members from the entrepreneurial and academic societies, including architecture and restoration professionals.

In the Board’s Executive Committee, both the Federal Government as well as the Federal District Government have three representatives, while the civil society has four.  They have appointed honorary life president the renowned historian and researcher, Don José E. Iturriaga, who has been recognized by everybody as a pioneer in the rescue of the Federal District Historical Center.

The CCRCH’s objective is to invert its deterioration, create conditions and recover the characteristics that all urban housing areas are destined to have, improve the quality of life of its inhabitants, attract new settlers, and have the Center recover the urban development relevance it had lost. The following phrase summarizes that common objective:  “Live the Historical Center”.

In order to achieve an integral rescue of the district, several instruments were established and the main corresponding actions were performed via the Mexico City Historical Center Trust that would evolve and subsequently become the Historical Center Authority; an emerging entity, subject to the current GDF.

  1. A package of tax incentives from the Federal Government and the Federal District Government, designed to promote investment in the area, to generate jobs and to refurbish real property.

    These incentives allowed that the real estate construction, refurbishing and rehabilitation projects in the Historical Center, to benefit from up to 100% exemptions of the following taxes:

    • Property tax
    • Tax on real estate additions
    • Payroll tax
    • Taxes on construction rights, issuance of licenses, registration in the Real Estate Public Registry or in the Trade Registry.

  2. Improvement of the area’s infrastructure, renovation of streets and public spaces with the support of Compañía de Luz y Fuerza del Centro (Light and Power Company) and of Telmex. Therefore, the infrastructure was modernized with underground cabling for telephone and public lighting networks, as well as upgraded the sewage system in 40 blocks of the Historical Center.

  3. In order to acquire the real property restored, refurbished and converted to office space, warehouse or housing units, a real estate corporation, Centro Histórico, S.A. de C. V. was incorporated.

  4. The creation of a periodical publication, Centro. Guía para Caminantes (Downtown. Guide for Travelers), in order to keep the society informed on the reasons to rescue it, its achievements and progress, besides promoting before the public at large, the very rich cultural heritage found in the Mexico City’s Historical Center.

  5. The creation of the Fundación Centro Histórico de la Ciudad de México, A. C. Since its incorporation in April 2002, this Foundation has carried out several socioeconomic, education and cultural projects.
 


Historical Center Foundation Programs

  1. Economic and Social Well Being
  2. Restoration, recovery and conservation of Historical Center buildings
  3. Cultural Programs

a) Economic and Social Well Being

The program to improve the education, economic and social well being of the inhabitants of the Historical Center includes the following areas:

b) Restoration, recovery and conservation of Historical Center buildings


Starting in 2001 to date, the private investment made to rescue the Historical Center amounted to a higher than 20 billion figure. The ratio has been 20 to 1 pesos invested by the private sector for each peso invested by the public sector. Although during work hours a floating population of more than one million people a day concentrates there, the Historical Center had completely lost its role as a residential district. After the shops and the public offices closed, the scarce buildings destined to housing were left immersed in highly unsafe dark areas.

It was necessary to transform warehouse space to housing units and office space to new housing. This effort has allowed the attraction of new inhabitants, young families that bring life to the Center as a whole.

The Fundación del Centro Histórico de la Ciudad de México, A. C., has supported the restoration of those buildings when an activity or use guarantees their long-term conservation. Through Centro Histórico, S. A. de C. V., real estate has been acquired and restored in order to make it livable.

One of the key projects to rescue the Historical Center is the construction of the new headquarters of the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, part of the Plaza Juárez, built in land that was abandoned after the 1985 earthquakes. Another key building in this rescue process has been the old NAFINSA building where the Centro de Tecnología Telmex has concentrated. This building is part of the new moll concept that communicates internal patios of several historical buildings of different styles and periods: Plaza Capuchinas.

Also, since the Fundación del Centro Histórico de la Ciudad de México, A. C., started operations, it has promoted improvements to the sound system in churches that continue to be worship temples in this district.

c) Cultural Program

Background

From years 2001 through 2005 the Fundación del Centro Histórico de la Ciudad de México, A. C., was in charge of promoting the Historical Center Cultural Corridor project established in the area that includes the following Avenues Izazaga, Eje Central and the streets 5 de Febrero and Mesones, linked by the corresponding plazas to the Vizcaínas, Regina Coelli and San Jerónimo buildings. Thanks to this initiative the population on the southwestern area of the Historical Center was renewed with young men and adults engaged in visual, plastic and scenic arts. The new technologies, music, graphic design, cultural management and other professional areas of the world of art.

A large number of them participated in the artistic proposals made in nearby buildings about to be refurbished and public spaces fully rescued and found alongside the Corridor. Some of the projects made during the afore mentioned period are:

Vizcaínas Lighting by German architects Florian Kneer and Bernita Le Gerrette (October 2002). The first project included the old Colegio de las Vizcaínas as a space for artistic creation, emphasizing the rescue of this heritage of Mexico City.

Voyeur, a digital photography exhibition coordinated by zonezero.com. This portal is dedicated to promote artistic, photo-journalistic and photo-documentary photography work that is the most antique in the Latin American culture. This exhibition was held in the Callejón de San Ignacio (Saint Ignatius Alley) and in several of the accessories to the old Colegio de las Vizcaínas. Outdoor concerts and a gastronomic sampling supplemented the exhibition held from September 25 through 28, 2003.

San Valentín Señorial: passage feast. Prior to remodeling the old Hotel Señorial to be used as a student residence, several art students and emerging artists were invited to participate in the rooms with installations for the specific site. A total of 88 works were presented on the night of February 14, 2004.

Localisms. Program of residences for artists that consisted of a month’s work to create works in situ in the Historical Center under the coordination of the Perros Negros artistic project agency. Derived from this effort, a two-month exhibition was held and it was divided in several places within the district. Life presentations, conferences and concerts took place there. 30 Mexican and foreign artists showed the result of their stay in the streets of Regina, San Jerónimo, Isabel La Católica and Callejón de San Ignacio from June 4 through July 30, 2004.

Concentric Conscience. A summon to a Video contest on the Historical Center, received a big response from many young national and foreign artists. A commemorative DVD was edited and it includes the 28 videos selected at the final stage, including those awarded the first three places. The final videos were presented at the Laboratorio Arte Alameda (INBA) and at the Casa Vecina, Cultural Space facilities.


Another positive effect of the Historical Corridor’s Cultural Corridor is the establishment of exhibition spaces (galleries, cultural centers, collective expression fora), at the same time as bars and restaurants that function as cultural spaces with a high turnover of proposals throughout the year.

An accurate report on the experience and scope of the Historical Center Cultural Corridor project is found in the book Centro. Zona Sur: Gente, Calles y Arte (Downtown. South Zone: People, Streets and Art) published by the Fundación del Centro Histórico de la Ciudad de México, A. C., and Mantarraya Ediciones.


Casa Vecina. Espacio Cultural
As of the day of its inauguration in October 2005, the Cultural Space of Casa Vecina has as a priority the promotion of cultural projects focused on contemporary art, amongst the inhabitants of the Historical Center’s South-Western area. These varied and inclusive projects are created by each one of the coordinators of this cultural space, that links neighbors and visitors in a deep and detailed manner. The result, after two years of work, has been translated into the attendance of a little more than 15 thousands people to the series of activities carried out in this period (7,000 of them attended this year).

Throughout this year, new coordinations have been created in order to timely assist our neighbors, users and normal collaborators, as is done in the Cultural Link area that works under a new education attention scheme. The idea is to continue promoting the relationship between the organization and its social environment; a one to one relationship of a more accurate version of its cultural promotion mechanism, of its communication effort in general destined to favor our connection with the different social groups in this area of Mexico City.

To highlight this vocation to understand the complexity of our neighborhood, we have started a quarterly publication of the magazine "Primer Cuadro" (First District), in trying to show the cultural density that makes up the daily life of the Historical Center, formed by artistic, literary, commercial, social, political and economic activities, as well as the historical layers that lie under the walls of the buildings and monuments.

In facing contemporary art and the study of the complex cultural identity, an editorial line has been created, called Libros de la Meseta (Plateau Books), which has published three titles this year: one by poet Eduardo Milán, another one by curator José Luis Barrios and one more by anthropologists Regnar Kristensen and Claudia Adeath [a study on the cult to the Holy Death in the “Barrio” Tepito (a neighborhood with a very strong identity)]. In this same area, it is necessary to honor the literary diffusion program Poesía y Combate (Poetry and Combat) that has three editions already with 300,000 poems, given as a gift, to the Historical Center residents in order to disseminate the poetic word.

Simultaneously, a heritage of publications, audiovisual and sound productions is being formed in order to facilitate the interrelationship amongst the proposals made by the artists who have been invited to exhibit their work in the Casa Vecina facilities, and our visitors. These materials will soon be made available for public consultation at the Documentation Center.

Of course, we continue receiving the support of young national artists through the Coordination of Artistic Projects, that is in charge of the exhibitions’ annual calendar, which content is prepared expressly for Casa Vecina. This support is extended through the Artistic Residence Program, designed to facilitate dialogue between artists that come from abroad and the Historical Center’s social environment. University youth is also supported via the Frances E. Inglis postgraduate research scholarships.

As if this were not enough, we promote artistic production by editing works in small format and limited editions, that may be acquired at accessible prices through our Bolo Negro multiple portfolio, and also by the one carried out by the artists that have been invited to exhibit their work at El Entredós, the Casa Vecina boutique. Part of the edition, co-produced by our cultural space adds to an art collection of the institution that is supplemented by a brief selection of the book-object and limited edition graph binders.

To date, 104 artists from all the states in the Mexican Republic as well as from other countries such as Austria, Japan, Colombia, Venezuela, Canada, Spain, the United States, Chile and Denmark have participated and asides this provides information on Mexican contemporary art, to Spanish, French, Hungarian and Argentinean art professionals.

Guided Visits
As of November 2004 through July 2006, guided visits were organized to encourage tours to the Historical Center. In collaboration with the National Fine Arts Institute (INBA as per initials in Spanish), the following renown writers and historians headed the visits: Gonzalo Velorio, Silvia Molina, Vicente Quirarte, Ángeles González Gamio and Jorge Legorreta, just to mention a few of the participants to this program. Approximately 7,000 people took the visits.

In the very near future a new stage of this program will start, in order to offer a series of activities that promote knowledge of the former and present life of the Historical Center of Mexico City. Casa Vecina shall design several tours to penetrate the silence of the real property, plazas and streets in the “primer cuadro” (first district) of our city, designed to disseminate its artistic and cultural heritage, through those characters that due to their revelance for Mexican culture have given identity to Mexico City. In these visits one “makes the rounds”. This means, that in a relaxed and enjoyable environment one tries to dialogue with the past, where it acquires a current nature from those that legated it to us. It is stimulating to disseminate the Historical Center considered to be a space and time that has been inhabited, more than an emblematic and monumental place.

Dead men’s Day Offering Contest in the Historical Center Plazas.
This year, 2007, the seventh edition of the Dead men’s Day Offering Contest will take place in the Historical Center Plazas as it promotes the preservation of Mexican popular culture without restricting its new interpretations because the contest offers two participation categories: Traditional Offerings and Contemporary Offerings. On this occasion $80,000 pesos will be awarded as prizes made readily in a SEARS electronic wallet.

As part of this preservation initiative, the Foundation also has “piñata”, cribs, choirs, “pastorela” (Nativity play) and “posadas” (Christmas season Mexican party) contests during the Christmas season in public plazas, restaurants and churches. Other activities include outdoor concerts, gastronomic and environment fairs.

The Foundation participates in several festivals organized by several cultural associations and institutions such as the Mexico Festival in the Historical Center.


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