national

INAC intervenes in St. Athanasius restoration

INAC has suspended work on an historic church due to unmet restoration requirements.

Noriel Gutiérrez/la prensa

LANDMARK: St. Athanasius Church has been an historical heritage site since 1938.1121192

Due to alterations to the original structure, INAC, Panama's national cultural institution, suspended painting work on the St. Athanasius Church in Los Santos. The church, which dates back to the 18th century and is known for its Baroque-style altar with renowned images of religious paintings, has been considered an historical heritage landmark since 1938.

INAC's regional director in Los Santos, Evan Rodríguez, confirmed that "Restoration work has in fact been suspended for approximately two months due to lack of conformity with Historic Heritage specifications for this type of structure.”

Rodríguez informed that a technical assessment by architect Irving Solórzano corroborated that the work did not comply with what was agreed, citing, as one of the breaches, the fact that the temple was being painted without the appropriate base. According to Rodríguez, a special base of river sand and lime powder would have to be used to seal the cracks prior to painting, and the paint to be used must be of excellent quality. This is because the church has not been painted for five years.

Diógenes Paz, representative of the La Villa district, claims that they complied with the provisions set forth by the Social Investment Fund. Paz agreed to halt the restoration work, but said they will now have to wait for the government to assign a new budget allocation to resume work, which, according to INAC, would require an estimated $40,000-45,000.

The church's pastor, José Héctor Rodríguez, criticized INAC for never contributing to the upkeep of the historic landmark, adding that he hopes the government will provide the necessary resources and instructions, so that, between December 2008 and January 2009, the church can be painted without damaging any of the altarpieces.