The legendary Monaco building by Pablo Escobar ends this Friday

Three seconds is the time it will take for the Monaco Building, iconic structure that belonged to the drug trafficker Pablo Escobar Gaviria and that he's been in the business for over 30 years The city.

In this small fraction of a second, more than three decades of waiting will be materialized by the inhabitants of the district Santa Maria Of Los Angeles, who not only experienced the abandonment of the building, but also saw how it became the mandatory destination of the so-called "narcotours"

This Friday, February 22, at 11 o'clock in the morning, the Monaco will go to the ground to give place to the other side of the history of drug trafficking, that of the victims. Or at least that's what the Mayor of Medellín.

"We can not ignore history, but we can give space to other protagonists in this story, let people know that we live many times with up to 10 bombs in a month. In the last three months of 1989, the country suffered 100 bombings, and we can not ignore nearly 50,000 deaths between 1983 and 1994, "he said at the time. Manuel Villa, private secretary to the mayor.

Here is what the Monegasque building looks like three days after its implosion pic.twitter.com/PbXFRjTKV0

– Alejo Mercado (@ AlejoMercado10) February 19, 2019

And the fact is that all sorts of opinions have been heard on the demolition of Monaco. Of those who say the best option is to repower and turn it into a museum, even those who ask to leave it as is.

However, for the mayor Federico Gutiérrez"demolish it's more symbolic and that's what they asked the neighbors who suffered the arrival of tourists who visited this place to watch it with morbid"

There is also a cost problem. According to the administration, on the basis of a study carried out by the National Universityto readjust the structure and proceed with the installation of a museum could cost between 40,000 and 50,000 million pesos (between 12 and 16 million dollars).

The other option, chosen by them, is to implode the building, which would cost 2,600 million pesos (about $ 830,000) and build a memorial, which will cost 6,000 million pesos ($ 1.9 million) ), according to the mayor's office in Medellín in December. from 2018 when he introduced "Inflection", the winning design of space that will replace Monaco.

The memorial, to be delivered in November this year, will have as its main feature a wall in the center of the park that crosses it and where it remembers and remembers the 46,200 victims of drug trafficking in the city.

About the building

In an area of ​​about 5,000 square meters (53,820 square feet), the building was built in 1986 and there, Pablo Escobar lived a few years with his family.

It is said that it is there that the war between the cartels of Medellín and Cali is unleashed, after 13 January 1988, around 5 am, a car bomb containing 80 kilograms of explosives exploded at the entrance of the building during an attack on Escobar and his family.

The building withstood the impact. And it's practically a kind of bunker (shelter). Reinforced columns, ceiling bars and up to a quarter of panic are part of its structure.

One year after the attack, the building was the seat of the Christian Association of Assistance and Rehabilitation (Asocar). Then, in 1997, the National Directorate of Narcotics he gave it to Charisma, entity dedicated to the treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts to psychoactive substances. They were there until 1999.

Subsequently, Monaco was badigned to the Administrative and Financial Section of the Office of the Prosecutor despite the complaint of the neighbors.

Specifically, in February 2000, criminals blew up a bomb in the goal, this time with 40 kilos of explosives to attack against police officials. Technical Research Team (CTI).

In 2008, the property was subject to extinction and had been entrusted to the national police. There, in 2015, we wanted to set up the offices of 123 and Sipol's intelligence services, but the plan did not produce the expected results because, according to the Territorial Ordinance Plan, these entities are prohibited from working in Sipol. residential areas.

It was in April 2018 that we defined more clearly the future of the building, which pbaded into the hands of the Mayor of Medellin thanks to the fact that Special badets company (SAE) authorized to exchange the property for another.