History
The WTC México began its existence as the Hotel de México, a building and complex that never really performed their intended functions.
Construction of the Hotel de México took place in a lot called Parque de La Lama located in Mexico City Napoles neighborhood (Spanish: Colonia Nápoles). The lot was set aside by real estate businessperson José Jerónimo de La Lama in 1947. However, by 1966, when the project was started, the owner and financial sponsor was Manuel Suarez y Suarez.
The Hotel de México project included, a hotel building as well as a cultural center housing the Polyforum Cultural Siqueiros and several other facilities aimed at making the complex a hub for business, culture, tourism, and architecture. Plans for the complex were presented at the 13th international architecture contest in Munich.
Slated to be ready for the 1968 Olympics, the project ran over schedule and over budget and although the main tower was completed in 1972, it never really functioned as a hotel, and, due to political and economical reasons, the tower as well as the rest of the complex were left in an unfinished state, save for the Polyforum.
In the mid 1980s, a project was started to turn the Hotel de México complex into an international business center. Mr. Suárez backed the idea and, although he died in 1988, the remodeling began with partial public funding in 1992. In 1995, the complex, now known as World Trade Center México, opened its doors with the tower now remodeled as an office building, as well as a convention center.
It has endured a number of earthquakes: that of 1985, which measured 8.1 on the Richter scale; that of 1995, 7.7; that of 2003, 7.6; that of April 13, 2007, 6.3; that of April 27, 2009, 5.9 with epicenter in the state of Guerrero; and that of May 22, 2009 at 14:24, 5.7 with a duration of 40 seconds and epicenter in Tehuacán in the state of Puebla; that of March 20, 2012, 7.8.
Floors 40 and 41 were employed as TV studios for News Corporation and Information (CNI), and 19 May 2005 used the floors of this tower were evacuated after the outbreak of a strike at the company was then responsible transmissions XHTVM-TV Channel 40, (CNI Channel 40). The responsibility for the operations of this frequency was the dealer Javier Moreno Valle. Currently, floors 40 and 41, home of the late CNI Channel 40, are still closed and in a state of strike.
Read more about this topic: World Trade Center Mexico City
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