In The Midst Of Luxury And Urban Blight
Modern skyscrapers are squeezing the
small neighborhood of La Exposición.
An emblematic Panama City neighborhood is struggling to survive, flanked by the glass-and-steel towers of the bayfront, to the east, and the urban decay of Calidonia, to the west.
Developed after 1916 along ample avenues lined with large trees, La Exposición (which translates as "The Exhibit") was the brainchild of Dr. Belisario Porras. A man of great vision, Porras, who served three times as president of Panama in the early 20th century, devoted great time and effort in developing national institutions and infrastructure after the Republic was formed upon the declaration of independence from Colombia in 1903.
In 1915, Dr. Porras proposed to the National Assembly that Panama launch a major international exhibit to observe the fourth centennial of the discovery of the Pacific Ocean and the opening of the Panama Canal which transited its first ship the year before. Although world exhibits were fashionable in other parts of the world during that period, many in Panama thought that such an idea was outrageous for a poor country with little more than 400,000 souls.
Office of the General Prosecutor of the Nation.
The project, nevertheless, was approved, and the government purchased a large, private plot called El Hatillo for the occasion. After landfilling parts of the property (which was covered with mangroves) and relocating the area's poor residents to what is known today as San Francisco, a number of countries, including Spain and Cuba, initiated the construction of their respective pavilions.
The exhibit opened in 1916 and was considered the largest cultural, scientific and technology display in Central America to that point. Local institutions and schools also participated.
After the exhibit ended later that year, the wooden pavillions were demolished, and the government sold the property to developers, who in turn sold lots to wealthy residents. Along Avenida Cuba, Peru and Vía España (thoroughfares honoring some of the fair's participating countries) new mansions appeared, featuring the same architectural style of the adjacent Bella Vista suburb (reflecting a mixture of Spanish colonial and Neo-classic influences). New government buildings were erected in the area, making it the true "capital of Panama"
Monument honoring Dr. Belisario Porras,
who established the neighborhood in 1916.
In the heyday of La Exposición, mansions spread between Avenida Balboa and the area known today as "La Cuchilla", but today, it basically covers the area between avenidas Cuba and Peru, with Plaza Porras as its center. A handful of pavillions of the 1916 fair are still in use today, having been restored in recent years.These include the embassies of Spain and Cuba, and the office of the General Prosecutor of the Administration. The National Archives, a grandiose, but ill-kept structure featuring an impressive Neo-classic facade, is also part of this compound, along with Museum of Natural Sciences (in use, but in need of repair) and the Gorgas Memorial Center on Avenida Justo Arosemena –still considered one of the top tropical medicine research centers in Latin America.
Old mansion occupied by Universidad del Istmo.
La Exposición's population started to decline in the 1960's and '70's when it's well-to-do residents started to migrate to La Cresta, El Cangrejo and Punta Paitilla. Many of its old townhouses have either been replaced by modern structures, are occupied by poor families or have been completely abandoned.
La Exposición, along with its eastern neighboor, Bella Vista, are rapidly losing their original character, in the midst of a real estate craze caused by the arrival of hundreds of expats from Europe and North America in recent years. A number of organizations have appeared in recent months seeking to preserve the remaining structures. A project to declare the area a "historic architectural zone" is waiting for approval at the National Assembly.
The National Archives, with its impressive neo-classic façade.
