The Restoration of San Jose Church

Image From: Iglesiasanjosepr.org

It is typical to demolish an area for then to construct new project in that particular location, but what happens when the building or structure holds historical cultural significance to the identity of a culture. In the US federal government has established the National Historic Preservation Act to accomplish the goal of conserving structures for future generations. This Act brought certain constraints to the architectural restoration of the San Jose Church in Puerto Rico, as well as dictated the process of reconstruction of the Church.

Preserving the world’s historical buildings comes with its set of challenges, as well as its rules and regulations. During the 1960s the U.S. founded the National Historic Preservation Act which positioned “the federal government to take an unprecedented leadership role in the preservation of these historic resources” (U.S General Service Administration, 2021). The federal government created tools and regulations for the preservation of historical resources in that area of cultural significance. Once such conservation project was the San Jose Church in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. This structure was first built in the late 1500s and has stood through centuries of history. For a building like San Jose Church many considerations need to be considered in the process of restoration. In their article on preservation of world Architectural heritage Gnezdilov, Kapnina, and Martynyuk state “In the process of restoration, the structure of the monument is strengthened with the use of materials similar to the original ones; modern means are also used if they do not damage the monument” (Gnezdilov et al., 2019) They also state that “The correct approach to the restoration of architectural heritage is necessary not only to preserve, but also to increase the significance of the building for any person.” (Gnezdilov et al., 2019). In the reconstruction of the San Jose Church the Architect Jorge Rigau and the team in charge with the project to into account the responsibility of increasing the significance of such a historical building.

The second oldest church of the Americas was closed for restoration in 2001and has opened earlier this year. Yet the process of reconstruction took many years of research as well as specialist in diverse fields of construction and artisanship to bring San Jose Church back from the brink of ruins. The process started with testing the old construction materials and creating a strategic plan for each phase in the process of restoration. when the demolition process started by removing the layers of old cement, they found old wall decorations from the Domonique sect that they had to restructure their plans for restoration to showcase what was hidden under years of concrete. In his conference over the restoration of San Jose Church Jorge Rigau says that some of the challenges they ran into were when they restored the exterior, yet it suffered fractures due to humidity and water. As well as fixing the roof that was structurally unsound by reinforcing the foundation. with all these challenges and the long time of the project Jorge Rigau and his team were able surpass the adversities they faced and increase the significance of the second oldest church in the Americas.

In the 20 years that it took for San Jose Church to be restored the team faced many challenges under the regulations that constrained the restoration of the church.

References:

Gnezdilov, D. V., Kapnina, E. V., & Martynyuk, E. S. (2019). The Problem of Preservation, Restoration and Reconstruction of the World Architectural Heritage (IOP Publishing, Ed.; pp. 1–5). https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/698/3/033022

NotiCel. (2021, March 12). Tras 20 años en restauración, reabre la histórica Iglesia San José en el Viejo San Juan. NotiCel.Com. Retrieved October 18, 2021, from https://www.noticel.com/vida/ahora/top-stories/20210312/tras-20-anos-en-restauracion-reabre-la-historica-iglesia-san-jose-en-el-viejo-san-juan/

Rigau, J. (2021, October 7). Jorge Rigau- Restauración de la Iglesia San Sosé [Project Presentation]. Escuela de Arquitectura UPR, Rio Piedras , Puerto Rico. https://www.facebook.com/EArquitecturaUPR/videos/397347165402255

U.S General Service Administration. (2021). Historic Preservation Policy, Tools & Resources. Gsa.Gov. Retrieved October 18, 2021, from https://www.gsa.gov/real-estate/historic-preservation/historic-preservation-policy-tools-resources