Newsroom Panama reports on the THE ONGOING saga of Panama’s Central Hotel as it  continues with yet another extended deadline for the start of the operations in the 1880’s building standing in Plaza Independencia in Casco Viejo.

It was the third extension was granted by the Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP). The first time was in 2011 and the second in 2013, when the the time to take advantage of the tax benefits was moved to September 30, 2014.

Now the legal representatives of the Central Hotel Investment Company, have managed to have the date moved to March 2015. The ATP resolution was dated May 20 and published in the Official Gazette on Thursday June 5
The request for the extension said there had been delays in obtaining permissions from the Panama Municipality to carry out works on the exterior walls of the building and there have been delays in the infrastructure works in Casco Viejo that carried out the Brazilian construction company Norberto Odebrecht, that have prevented the interconnection of sanitary and electrical services for the building.
“We refer to the remodeling that is transforming and restoring the Casco Viejo and also for their road and infrastructure characteristics have led to long delays which have greatly affected the remodeling of the Central hotel,” says the document.
They also emphasize that within the previous extensions the staff training period for the company that would manage the hotel management had not been considered.
Due to these drawbacks, the ATP decided to grant a new term and gain the tax incentives for the enhancement of the old structure.
The project to restore the building was announced in 2007 was announced. A Spanish group proposed to invest about $20 million in the property but the project suffered setbacks. During the restoration work, one of the walls of the hotel collapsed, and the structure was weakrnrf.
There were complaints too of the alteration of the structure’s appearance, the demolishing of an historic staircase and the complete gutting of the building and not meeting construction standards. That drew criticism from experts in heritage issues. Including chapter president of Panama Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS, and former director of Heritage, Sebastian Paniza.
According to Paniza, after all that has passed the structure lost its historical value because parts that should not have been touched were demolished.
However, this building is considered one of the most important of Independence Square and of Casco Viejo. Town.
Geronimo Espitia, coordinator of the Planning Commission of the Panamanian Society of Engineers and Architects, recommended that corrections be made in the structure before be giving Operation extensions.
“The municipality should do an inspection,” he said.