Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 3, 1984)
Friday, February 3, 1984/The Battalion/Page 13 Havana’s colonial center restored to old splendor United Press International I HAVANA, Cuba — Fidel Cas tro’s revolution may have wiped out many traces of Cuba’s colo nial past, but there is one part of that heritage it is anxious to pre serve — the old city of Havana. A 2-square-mile area in the cen ter of Havana contains about 1|000 colonial era buildings that have been allowed to decay over the years. The task of restoring the area to its former brilliance has been taken on by Havana Mayor Oscar Fernandez Mell, a former physician, guerrilla com mander and member of the Hentral Committee of the Com munist Party. t l:: Fernandez Mell and storation experts and craftsmen have been working on the project for four years and already more than 30 buildings have been completed. Ef Among them is the 18th cen tury palace of the captains- general beside Havana harbor. It Has the seat of Cuba’s govern ment for much of its history, in- 'Some of jduding the brief period of U.S. onstraiiitfoccupation at the turn of the cen- t and tht' turv. ■ Current plans call for work on own t»is Jan additional 10 to 13 buildings a SA spoWyear through the end of the cen- evemhiiJtury until the entire area, de- ike a pic dared a world historic landmark by UNESCO, is rescued from g real food decay. GeneTkJl 1 Fernandez Mell says the pro- engineer Ij:, mnd ere* I iv on sclid| problems i| iiarvpowil iciailorta 1 "All of the wealth of Cuba used to go into maintaining Havana's lavish lifestyle. Our priority has been to invest in rural develop- iiorate the great fxnerty that ex- We have made great strides in but Cuba is a poor nation and still has to make hard choices.Oscar Fernandez Mell, mayor of Havana ject, despite its evocation of Cuba’s colonial past, has not been opposed by his revolutionary col leagues. “To the contrary, I wish every thing I did was as uncontrover- sial as this project has been,” he said. Firt undertaken as a local in itiative, the project now receives more than $>1 million a year in funding from the national gov ernment, Fernandez Mell said. He said additional funding is ex pected from the United Nations. About 600 architects, restor ers, psychologists and craftsmen led by historian Sergio Gonzalez work full-time on the project. Shortly before Castro came to power in 1959, the former gov ernment of Fulgencio Batista planned to demolish the historic section of the city, then among the most valuable real estate in the capital, to make way for more profitable structures, Fernandez Mell said. One of the first proposals he considered when he became mayor eight years ago was to pro ceed with the projected demoli tion. “Old Havana is what gives our city its singularity,” he said. “I de cided we would not destroy it.” In the end his colleagues agreed it was not necessary for a socialist state to destroy the pre vious culture’s heritage or the artistic roots and preferences of the people. While such a large-scale res toration does compete for scarce resources in a city that still ex periences shortages, including a shortage of housing, the historic al importance to the world makes the investment a legitimate one, Fernandez Mell said. The restoration is being undertaken block by block to en sure consistency of treatment. The completed buildings remain in public use as homes or shops, while at the same time serving as a living museum open to the public. Those who continue to live in the district must agree to share in its upkeep. A committee, includ ing psychologists, judges appli cants for residence in the area. The shops that remain are furnished in colonial style. Many of them are restaurants that serve traditional dishes. There are plans to close many of the streets to motorized traffic as a convenience to pedestrians. One stately old three-story building that was once the home of a slave trader is about to be opened as a ceremonial recep tion center for the mayor. A trip through the area puts the visitor in a time machine back to the 18th century. There are ground floor offices where busi ness was conducted around arched double patios designed to get natural ventilation during Cuba’s sweltering summers. Spacious living quarters are on the second floor, and the apart ments originally housing slaves are on the third floor with ceil- Merger won’t cause ‘domino effect’, Texaco chief says United Press International trbines ai^ anding of| st shuttle alacedall TULSA, Okla. — Fears that a w thirdstelffi r ’ . . ‘mergei oi lexaco Inc. and Get- jH, tyOil Co. would trigger a domi- ’al backups n( !. effecl of bi S . oil com P anies c . r taking over smaller ones were emotional and unfounded, Tex aco U.S.A.’s president said i for so T , i ^ Inursday. E James W. Kirmear, also vice space ni chairman of Texaco Inc., was cl Stewart the first witness for Texaco in its und badpsdefense of a lawsuit filed by feetawavl Pennzoil Co. seeking to halt the Hit lifeline ®0.1 billion Texaco-Getty mer- feat. The g er - Pennzoil itself wanted to the same taerge with Getty, ge Nelson/ “There’s a degree of emo- iltoreachS'i honalism (in Getty’s allega- mttle. dons,)” Kinnear said. “Decisions flight ist °f this type are not made on an ■b 11 will emol i° na l basis. They are made lape Canavfr|P n feet. I “Texaco did not bounce down and make an unfriendly •^lyC tender offer. Pennzoil itself wl I v made an offer. Texaco looked at j itand made a friendly offer. We COwWere successful.” ' Pennzoil of Houston has ij asked U.S. District Judge James i lOriv Ellison to issue a temporary injunction halting the Texaco- Getty merger as a violation of i Internatiom antitrust laws. Pennzoil also has filed a breach of contract lawsuit - Officialsoliin 1 Delaware contending Getty ildren’s Hob promised to sell stock to Penn- onomiccritillzoil, then reneged in favor of epressed MTexaco. scent devastiw| Lower Vafe' In contrast to testimony from it appealfo[>E enilzo d witnesses, Kinnear told rsday. Ellison the Getty acquisition uddy M. 0»t wou fe not change Texaco’s poli- :or, andRalpify*°f bidding with partners on ntendentol high-risk offshore leases. fmXdo f !s« P ; nnz ^ alle S es wi ; b ; lc - „ ,„quisitton Texaco would be big /crc cxtrfci 1 • ^ r oai» enough to go it alone on the ven- ind thesitiHf'■ S ’ CuUin S out a P arter with 95 percent d ! ercent of its egetables. k ss has also ai: due to the i a news receives ing. It cui tildren, oken horaei ms, and dt rches, bu< ttions nancial sit] ms are ui set this eaiin icial strain,', tributionssaJ located 3 c. t, also was setl -H boys and f ling to enter!: and rcedes Live:: must pay if s to particip! •art of their c relations d( tgher said. which Pennzoil and other smal ler companies could bid. Texaco’s policy has been and will continue to be to spread the risk, Kinnear said. “You don’t put the mortgage to the ranch on one opportun ity,” he said. “We tried going it alone 20 years ago and it didn’t work out. We learned from that.” Pennzoil has expressed fear a Texaco-Getty merger would prompt a decline in oil and gas exploration because it would be less expensive for Texaco and others to acquire reserves, such as those of Getty, than for them to find new oil and gas. “The amount of exploration of the two companies together will clearly be no less than what the two companies would do separately,” Kinnear said. “With the production of Get ty’s reserves comes the obliga tion to explore. To stay in busi ness, an oil company must try each year to replace the reserves produced that year.” Kinnear also dismissed Penn- zoxl’s allegations that the acquisi tion would lessen already lag ging competition in all areas of the oil industry. Listing each area from marketing to produc tion, Kinnear said the industry was highly competitive. Under cross-examination by Pennzoil attorney Bill Burke, Kinnear said he was not aware of any industry or analysts’ specu lation that Texaco was attemp ting the Getty merger because enforcement of antitrust laws appeared slack during the Reagan administration. “We do not speculate on atti tude,” he said. “We review the law.” JT KAPLAN Educational Center TEST PREPARATION SPECIALISTS SINCE 1938 707 Texas Ave. 301-C In Dallas: l1%17 N. Central Expressway Call Days Evenings & Weekends New Classes Scheduled Call 696-3196 for INFORMATION Taslan Bunting Jacket Soft as baby bunting, warm - Wgh-h weight w ind proof - water repdlant • A, great all-purpose jacket. Choose from royal, slate, navy,red or khakA for men and women/ WHOLE EARTH PROVISION COMPANY (05 Boyett 846-8794 isement ) TAIAlK? Brings back an Aggi e Tradition 4 for X Hour 4-5 p.m. 5-6 p.m. & 6-7 p.m. Scandals is the place with NO COVER FOR LADIES Ladies receive their first drink free on weekends after 7 p.m. call 693-2818 for more info 3 for 1 ings so low their inhabitants could never walk upright. Even the room ooreman has been restored, comple a niche for Cuban-style witchcraft. The renovated district is ex pected to contribute to a revival of tourism that already is under way, Fernandez Mell said. Nearly 200,000 tourists visited Cuba last year, up from a low of 3,000 in 1968, he said. The freshness and brightness of the restored area contrast Havana, but that does not trou ble the mayor. “All of the wealth of Cuba used to go into maintaining Havana’s lavish lifestyle,” Fernandez Mell said. “Our priority has been to invest in rural development to ameliorate the great poverty that existed there. “We have made great strides in bettering health and education, where we have achieved stan dards existing only among de veloped countries. But Cuba is a poor nation and still has to make hard choices.” He said it often was difficult to find artisans who could master the old building techniques in order to restore the buildings col onial style. The most difficult to find was a traditional stone mason. Only one was left on all of Cuba. He was lured out of retirement and has now passed on his skills to a new generation. ness of the rest of once beautiful > MSC When is Your Buying CAFETERIA Where You Get More No Secret At All? ' For Your Money WHEN OVER 30,000 PEOPLE READ IT IN OPEN IllO THE BATTALION P° r the biggest selections 6:30 a.m.-7:00 p.m. Daily of anything you could pos- nTTY our c l ass 'fi cc i s - You’re bound to find it! 845-2611 “QUALITY FIRST” yem SA£Z old Post 50% off zvzayTjt/HQ <*> or’ , •X* ^ NT O' N> (Items already on sale not incl.) COME CELEBRATE & SAVE Gold Dost / Po m Post Oak Mall- 764-1004 DO YOUR SHADOW A FAVOR BUY 1 PIZZA GET 1 FREE Thursday & Friday Feb. 2 & 3 BUY ANY 14 OR 16 INCH GET NEXT SMALLER SIZE (WITH SAME NUMBER OF ITEMS OR LESS) exLkeIN .Jim; Jh if --fell 846- 696- Campus S. Bryan 7785 S. College Station r" j/F vifej NO COUPONS WITH THIS OFFER. CASH ONLY PLEASE