Significance
In 1820, two great fires affected the city of Ponce. One destroyed great part of the center of the city; and the other gutted 80% of Ponce's port zone, paralyzing all commercial trade to the southern section of Puerto Rico. Because of this problem and public concern, in 1853, a voluntary but official firemen service was created for the urban area of Ponce. It was named the Municipal Firemen Service Force. Its mission was to fight and prevent fires.
During the month of July 1882, Ponce was the center of attention in Puerto Rico, as an important Exhibition Trade Fair was being celebrated. The main exhibit pavilion, dedicated to agricultural and industrial exhibits, was commissioned to Maximo Meana, Lietenant Coronel of the Spanish Militia, and later, Mayor of the city. The Moorish influence is manifested immediately for its basic rectangular plan with towers at its front corners: the active facade ornamentation, its long and narrow windows with fans at its top, its bright colorful paint application, among others, typifies a strong Moorish influence. In 1885, the building was dedicated as Ponce's official firehouse. In 1920, it was used briefly as the Mayor's office as a result of the earthquake that affected the city during that year.
Since 1885, Parque de Bombas has been, and it is, an important cultural institution in Ponce. Its colors represent the city, its unique style represents a progressive and dynamic cultural center. The Fireman's Band plays every Sunday evening a "Retreta" (retreat) as part of a cultural program and tradition of the city of Ponce. The structure’s extremely unique and different form represents the brave firemen of Ponce, and its history. An inscription at Parque de Bombas reads,
"This building is a symbol and commemoration of the importance vested by the residents of Ponce in the service, self-denial and courage of the Ponce Firefighters Corps. It is for this reason that the Ponce Firefighters Corps remains symbolically on this Plaza, in the heart of the city of Ponce."
In 1943, the Firemen Services of Puerto Rico was created by legislation. Its main commitment is to extinguish fires, prevent fires, rescue services in natural disasters or emergencies, and to service the community.
Read more about this topic: Parque De Bombas
Famous quotes containing the word significance:
“The hysterical find too much significance in things. The depressed find too little.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“The hypothesis I wish to advance is that ... the language of morality is in ... grave disorder.... What we possess, if this is true, are the fragments of a conceptual scheme, parts of which now lack those contexts from which their significance derived. We possess indeed simulacra of morality, we continue to use many of the key expressions. But we have—very largely if not entirely—lost our comprehension, both theoretical and practical, of morality.”
—Alasdair Chalmers MacIntyre (b. 1929)
“Of what significance the light of day, if it is not the reflection of an inward dawn?—to what purpose is the veil of night withdrawn, if the morning reveals nothing to the soul? It is merely garish and glaring.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)