Puerto Rico's crumbling historic buildings (insurance, Home Depot, buying)
U.S. TerritoriesPuerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, etc.
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why should the government be in charge of this? that's the problem....obviously they can't handle a huge government and nobody knows where exactly the taxpayers dollars goes......so let the private sector buy it and take care of it. Put condos, museums or restaurants.....anything is better in how the local government has handle this.
This is probably the best answer to save some of the buildings. They should hold a bidding process and have the highest bidder win with a high minimum bid. I've never been to PR but the pictures of some buildings look beautiful. IMO I personally like the historic buildings more than some of the newer bland, dull buildings that are being put up.
Unfortunately, for some of these buildings there maybe too much decay and the cost for repairs is too much and they might be unsalvageable .
The US won't do anything for Puerto Rico. With all of their debt it would be a shame if all of the historical places were left to ruin.
so all the federal aid the U.S. sends Puerto Rico for over a century for schools, grants for colleges, free lunch at the schools, hospitals, roads, food stamps for the poor , housing, medical, aid for the handicapped, Hurricane relief aid (FEMA) and all the services is nothing to you?
what else you want the U.S. to do, write a check for 70 billion dollars and hand it over to the Puerto Rican government and ask no questions and make no demands to reform their spending? o.k.
This is probably the best answer to save some of the buildings. They should hold a bidding process and have the highest bidder win with a high minimum bid. I've never been to PR but the pictures of some buildings look beautiful. IMO I personally like the historic buildings more than some of the newer bland, dull buildings that are being put up.
Unfortunately, for some of these buildings there maybe too much decay and the cost for repairs is too much and they might be unsalvageable .
thats how you get a hooters in a historical building and again people will complain...
I think both an appeal to Madrid - both the Spanish govt whose legacy this really is and the Spanish people - might help too. These buildings were built by the Spanish Crown money by the Puerto Rican people before the USA was even a glimmer in the founding fathers abuelo's eyes!
What a great draw for Spanish and other European tourists as well as a sense of pride and nostalgia for the old glory days of empire.
I think both an appeal to Madrid - both the Spanish govt whose legacy this really is and the Spanish people - might help too. These buildings were built by the Spanish Crown money by the Puerto Rican people before the USA was even a glimmer in the founding fathers abuelo's eyes!
What a great draw for Spanish and other European tourists as well as a sense of pride and nostalgia for the old glory days of empire.
so you want the taxpayers of Spain to pay for buildings and infastructure in their former colonies that they have no jurisdiction and no longer own for centuries? lol
that's like you paying for house maintenance and property taxes for a house owned by somebody else that your great great grandfather sold before you were born.
Should we send the bill to the French for the maintenance and daily operations of the Statue of Liberty.
I think both an appeal to Madrid - both the Spanish govt whose legacy this really is and the Spanish people - might help too. These buildings were built by the Spanish Crown money by the Puerto Rican people before the USA was even a glimmer in the founding fathers abuelo's eyes!
What a great draw for Spanish and other European tourists as well as a sense of pride and nostalgia for the old glory days of empire.
Nice thought, but I think that thought/proposal would fall on deaf ears.
I don't know if there are any private Historic Foundations that are supporting preservation projects in SJ or other PR towns/cities but as a US Citizen and a property owner here in the States and in PR... I would definitely contribute monetarily to any endeavor.
I belong to my Cities Historical Society, and donate time and money to restoring/ stabilizing many buildings here, a good deal of the buildings go back to pre-revolutionary days.
I restored a 'basket case' 1860s farmhouse back in the 1980's on a limited budget but lots of sweat equity..it became my primary residence for 10 years.
It is now on the State Historical Register.
When money becomes tight, Historic preservation is way on the bottom of the list for Fed, State, and local funding..
Private organizations are the only sources keeping these buildings viable, plus there is the cost of constant maintenance, painting, etc.
(You can't slap vinyl siding on a 1760 house.)
Sadly, Preservation issues are reaching epidemic proportions everywhere in the world...sadly with the younger generation, Preservation of Historical entities is of limited interest and priority.
At least you came up with a positive thought..there are people on this site that are constantly negative and smug when anything positive is proposed.
At least you came up with a positive thought..there are people on this site that are constantly negative and smug when anything positive is proposed.
That's because these people are insecure individuals without a job. :-)
with all due respect, there is nothing positive in making the taxpayers of Spain pay for something that is the responsibility of the Puerto Rican government and the people living in P.R. unless you get some rich people in Spain willing to volunteer their money but that's not going to solve the problem in the long term.
The purpose of all this is to make the locals in P.R. take care of it either by the government (taxes) or the private sector (contributions and volunteering in the maintenance ) or a combination of both. You take care of your own backyard.
That's like asking the residents of New York to pay for it.
Welcome back!
Last edited by Hellion1999; 08-25-2017 at 03:41 PM..
it doesn't take lots of money for paint, brushes, rollers, broom, mop and other things you find in the Home Depot or your local hardware store.......we used to do it on a volunteer basis back in the 70's and 80's in P.R. with churches and the private sector and cleaned out our communities and parks for the children to play.
There is no excuse why the local government and the local community can't get this done. Either they don't care or have other priorities but don't expect outsiders to fix the problem unless they are investing and want a return which is better what they have now but don't complain later that foreigners are taking over.
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