New Developments in the Amira de la Rosa Theater Project

Banco de la República has continued its cultural work in Barranquilla. As part of its activities, it started the restoration of the stage curtain of the Amira de la Rosa theater, created by Maestro Alejandro Obregón and considered as a fundamental symbol of the theater.

Additionally, the Bank programmed different activities this year including lectures and focus groups in which the community and cultural managers from the region participated actively. This has allowed the institution to learn about the expectations of different sectors regarding the project. The attendance by scholars, cultural managers, teachers, artists, musicians, university students, and children to converse about the Amira was much appreciated. The information that we have collected from the communities of the city is invaluable.

The Bank has also been conducting the feasibility analysis for the intervention of the theater. The legal aspects related to the land on which the building is located have been analyzed jointly with the Office of the Secretary for Planning and the office of the Mayor of Barranquilla.

Currently, working groups have been established with the Office for Patrimony of the Ministry of Culture to define the characteristics of the intervention in the theater. As a result, an action plan will soon be defined to transform the theater into a state-of-the-art, sustainable, and inclusive Cultural Center that may be considered as a reference for the city and the region. The Governor of the Central Bank, Juan José Echavarría, will request an appointment with the newly elected Mayor, Jaime Pumarejo, in January 2020 to discuss the development of the project. The Bank has budgeted approximately COP $60 billion for this project.

The next steps include finishing the work with the Ministry of Culture and the City Hall in order to produce the final designs that will allow the intervention in the theater to begin.

The theater will retain its heritage and become a reference of sustainability, best practices in environmental management, inclusion, and efficient use of resources. It shall be part of a cultural circuit that will include, among others, the new theater that has been planned at the Universidad del Norte designed by Maestro Daniel Bermúdez.

The city dreams with a Cultural Center that will project itself into the future and that shall become a meeting point for a diversity of groups through art, music, and reading. Different audiences expect that the presence of Banco de la República will add to the city’s cultural ecosystem, and that the building will relate to its environment as well as to the cultural circuit in the area of its location. It has been a long process; however, as always, the Central Bank will keep its promise with Barranquilla.

Barranquilla,