Photography
A fire?
Until October 2021, according to the information provided by an analysis made by the UMSNH faculty of architecture, the market had around 760 premises that had a municipal license for their operation, as well as 180 semi-fixed stalls which are located day by day in the vicinity of the market, both on the free sidewalks of the market, as well as in the surrounding streets.
Despite occupying an entire city block, its location is no longer very favorable, since due to the area where it is located, simple access for the vehicles that supply the market is limited; The reason is that there is no area for loading and unloading, taking into account that trucks or large vehicles cannot pass through this area, since it is within the historic center.
As if this were not enough, on the night of Saturday, May 20, a short circuit generated a fire outside the Independencia market, which quickly consumed the merchandise of 144 stores and caused the parking lot to collapse.
A month after the event, the problems presented by the space came to the surface, demonstrating that 54 years after its foundation it was necessary to remodel, since the interventions that had been made in previous years “were not enough”.
While some tenants speculate that the fire was arson, others argue that the famous “little devils” could have been the cause of this accident, the reality is that the economic losses amounted to just over 100 million pesos.
For his part, the mayor of Morelia, Martínez Alcazar, said at the time that tentatively the cause could be an electrical failure in the wiring in the area, because this system has worked for years.
And according to the official opinion issued by the FGE on June 1, the fire started by the overheating of a load center, which caused the spark that would cause the flammable material that was on the market to catch fire, an “accidental” but “predictable” event that meant partial and total losses.
Despite the fact that the authorities endorsed that “attention continues to drains and gas tanks, despite the fact that there was recently an investment of just over six million pesos in maintenance of the main façade, rehabilitation of the drainage network and waterproofing, at the same time the application of paint in toilets, corridor and the administrative area of the market,” for the tenants, this type of action was only “Mejorlitos”, without the problem being solved in depth.
Independence Market/ME
What happened after the fire?
August 10
The coordinator of Civil Protection and Firefighters of Morelia, Francisco Xavier Lara Medina announced that on August 9, after meeting the State Attorney General’s Office (FGE), the Municipal Secretariat of Public Works, the Directorate of Markets and Plazas and the concessionaire of the parking lot to lift the security that until now remained in the damaged building. It is now accessible, which was a step forward in the process that will allow demolition and debris removal to begin; This, nearly three months after the metal and concrete structure affected by the fire was at the point of collapse.
What follows, he said, “is that the Directorate of Legal Affairs of the City Council reaches an agreement with the concessionaire (IDESA Domos y Estructuras S.A. de C.V.) to begin the work, an agreement that must be endorsed by the Cabildo de Morelia so that the insurer can provide the necessary resources for this purpose.”
August 11
The city’s Minister of Public Services, Netzahualcoyotl Vázquez Vargas, said demolition work on the independent market’s parking lot would begin next week once outstanding legal claims are resolved.
On the other hand, the president of the Morelia City Council, Alfonso Jesús Martínez Alcázar, approved the proposal with 14 votes in favor (unanimously present) at the fifteenth ordinary meeting of the City Council and announced the extension of the term of operation of the concessionaire company to preserve the property temporarily. another 11 years, making a total of 20 years.
Alejandro Méndez López, wife of Michoacán’s Secretary of the Environment (Secma), is a partner in the concession that was extended to encourage the property to invest in parking lots. The plaza was rebuilt on the afternoon of Saturday, May 20, when the funds provided by the insurance companies were not enough to complete all the work needed for the project.
Alfonso Martínez highlighted the result of The negotiations in which the Morelia city council does not have to allocate a single peso for the reconstruction of the parking lot, although he said he will insist that the new construction project “be worthy of our city” because the previous one was “terrible.”
As additional data, it was announced that “the demolition work will have an estimated cost of four million pesos, which will be absorbed by the concessionaire company.”
In addition, “the removal of debris and cleaning will take approximately 60 days, during which time the parking lot reconstruction project will be fine-tuned, which, according to the forecast, will be carried out in a period of about nine months; therefore, it is estimated that a new parking lot will be available in the Independencia market within eleven months.”
August 22
Xavier Lara, mentioned in a press conference that the previous one, August 21, the initial work had begun even without the concessionaire having yet delivered the demolition plan and the contingency plan (safety and hygiene).
The coordinator pointed out that so far only the exterior metal railings of the different floors of the parking lot have been dismantled and cut, and the building has been on the verge of collapse for three months; He commented that in order to continue with the major task it was necessary to submit an application for deficiency and the legal department of the city council has already completed the work.
Lara Medina said that the process of demolition and removal of debris will take about three months because explosives will not be used, but a strategy of installing props in certain areas will be followed, paying special attention to what they do. Separates vehicles. Trapped in a damaged building.
For his part, the secretary of the City Council, Yankel Alfredo Benítez Silva, announced that the next parking lot could be operational within nine months, as the construction phase will likely last around six months.
August 23
It is striking that at this time on the official website of the Morelia City Council, the following appears: “The Municipal President recalled that once the legal experts were concluded and with the authorization of the State Attorney General’s Office, the work began this Monday with the removal of debris and later the demolition and construction of the new parking lot will take place, the completion period of which is two months.”
It’s interesting for two reasons. The first is that, according to Alfonso, in a period of two months the stage where the debris is removed would be completed, despite the fact that Lara Medina, as coordinator of Civil Protection and Firefighters of Morelia, had already said that it would take at least 3 months. The second is that there was a drafting error since, as they state, they allude to the fact that the removal of debris, the demolition and the reconstruction of the parking lot will be ready within two months and that is not possible.
September 01
By this date, Yankel Benítez Silva said that the demolition of the public parking lot attached to the Independence Market was 50% complete.
He said that this is a greater progress than expected and scheduled by the parking concession company, which estimated that it would conclude in 2 months; that is, towards the end of October.
Here, it seems important to distinguish that according to the information provided, they were indeed further ahead than initially planned, since by the beginning of September, 50% of the parking lot was already demolished.
Independence Market/ME
October 13
A little more than a month and a half after the demolition of the parking lot of the Independencia market began, it will be the following week when the tasks of the total removal of the damaged area could be concluded, announced the secretary of Public Services of the municipality, Netzahualcóyotl Vázquez Vargas.
The municipal official explained that so far there is an advance of 85 percent in the demolition, so it is expected that no later than next Friday, October 20, the space will be free for the new construction.
As an additional fact, Vázquez Vargas explained that there were around 60 tons of waste, which were removed from the site by the Solid Waste Directorate that he is in charge of.
And he recalled that the new parking lot construction project could take up to nine months, so it would be in July of next year, when this new space could be ready.
October 15
In the last update on the subject, we found that the Ministry of Public Works of Morelia has not yet received the executive project for the construction of a new public parking lot in the areas of Morelia.The Secretary of Public Works, Juan Fernando Sosa Tapia, pointed out that the demolition of what was the public parking lot attached to the Independencia market is 85 percent complete.
Thus, the head of the agency pointed out that it was expected to conclude by the third week of October, about a month earlier than initially projected, this because “the damaged and collapsed structure has already been demolished and only the part not affected by the fire remains.”
Independence Market/ME
What do we have?
As of today, November 7, the facilities still have a good percentage of debris that has not been removed and structures stuck to the ground, not to mention that the authorities present refuse to give information about the progress.
Martha Dalay Soto
