UNAH Center for Art and Culture
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The UNAH Center for Art and Culture (CAC), is a space of permanent dialogue between the Autonomous National University of Honduras (UNAH) and the community of Comayagüela, Honduras, which promotes the spreading of humanistic, artistic and scientific knowledge.[1]
The building was built in the 1940s as the Hotel Panamericano, that for some time was the most important hotel in the capital of Tegucigalpa, Honduras. As a hotel, it lodged diplomats and other important people for a long time.
During the 1950s and 1960s, the building housed some of the medical and chemistry departments of UNAH. It was from inside this building that the fight for UNAH to become an independent university was developed, which occurred on 15 October 1957.
With the construction of the University City in the zone of the Aldea of Suyapa at the end of the 1960s, the university activity gradually moved to the new space, and the building would become the headquarters of the Ministry of Work until 1998, when it was damaged by Hurricane Mitch, and then abandoned.
Abandonment
After 12 years of being abandoned, there was serious damage throughout the building, as part of its roof was missing, with leaks and damages on the second and third floors.
The flood, paired with being abandoned soon after, allowed a full water pit to form at the base of the building. Along with other leaks, this put the building's foundation in danger. The lack of maintenance allowed cracks, fissures, and the growing of parasitic plants to develop. There was also a fair amount of vandalism on the walls, and the building has been used as a garbage dump and toilet.