Vuelta de Obligado 50. The address, in the center of Neuquén, is the location of an abandoned patio, which more than a decade ago was called “Paseo de los Artesanos” and it even has the identity sign, piled up on a roof.
From the aerial walkways, the view of the surroundings is very pleasant and dazzling at midday, where the birds can be heard more than the honking of Olascoaga Avenue.
The beams that support the ride in height, They are train rails and a large part of the corridors, 2 meters high, are made of wood that is more than 100 years old.
Some pine boards are missing from the aerial labyrinths that wind through the grove. The place had lighting for the night walk that was removed or stolenthere is no record about that.
Below there are eight carriages declared part of the city’s historical heritage.
Three were burned almost a decade ago and two others, used until last year as storage rooms during the remodeling of the train station, which was reactivated with the launch of the passenger train arriving from Cipolletti before the suspension of that branch. , or those who currently go to Plottier.
The platform and the fence
The section of the Paseo that communicated with the platformit is closed with a large gate to prevent third parties from entering the yard in search of shelter, a new home or to cause destruction.
There is also a second staircase missing that connected the route at height with the ticket office area, on the platform, on the other side of the tracks, in front of the Emilio Saraco room.
And in the center of the patio, a mini-amphitheater still looks like with remains of construction materialswith a stall and benches surrounded by moss and water that does not drain. All around, the famous carriages, some preserved, others half burned.
The two ordinances that declared it Heritage of the city, Municipal Historical Monument and of Public Interest for the capital Neuquén (93 and 95), They order the municipality to take charge of the safeguarding and protection of the space.
“The aforementioned property and its facilities were part of the identity of Neuquén in its formation as a city” was described in the ordinance.
It was added that some pioneers worked there and that it was essential to “stop the destruction of our historical past.”
The gardener who keeps the pergola and the internal circuits maintained presented his retirement papers and then “who will take care of it? Nobody,” Ernesto Eliseo Sepúlveda responded.
The operator is part of the staff of the provincial directorate of Historical Heritage, a department that shares the physical space on the railway property, where the historical monument of the city that no one sees is located.
“One comes and cuts the grass and another does maintenance. I have been here for many years and no one does anything, in 2 years I too will retire and who is going to do anything, no one: Councilors and deputies have come, but no one has given him a chance.“, Eliseo maintains hopelessly.
In the Deliberative, the request for reports from the Executive to find out why the Paseo de los Artesanos in Vuelta de Obligado is abandoned, returned to committee in September with the political excuse that the request for explanations was going to be “enriched with signatures.”
The left presented the request for reports in May and took a while to get a second signature from any of the 10 blocks that make up the Council to reach the venue.
When it was finally discussed in the session, the councilor of Unión por la Patria Nuestros Vamos Neuquén, Daniel Figueroa, asked for it to return to commission.
“In that same session, An ordinance was voted that enables private capital to maintain the city’s historical places and heritageas well as collective shelters; They are not going to take charge anymore and will look for sponsors, which is why they also rejected my request for reports on the stops” of the city’s public transportation, said Priscila Otton.
He added that the municipal Executive “must comply with the ordinance that says it must maintain that space with its spirit of municipal historical heritage. “This abandoned place is disrespectful,” he said.
Eliseo Sepúlveda, for his part, assured that his only interest is in repairing that place that was valued during the government of Jorge Omar Sobisch.
Sepúlveda grew up on the streets and the station was the place where he sold lottery tickets when he was a child.
“I grew up here, it is clear that the artisans could not take care of it and they were“Now it is an abandoned place, in 4 administrations, in 16 years, nothing was done,” he questioned.
He added that when the fire that destroyed 3 cars “100 years of history was set on fire.”
He explained that at night, it is a dark place because the reflectors burned out or were stolen.
Eliseo is an employee of the provincial directorate of Historical Heritage, which shares the lateral space of the Paseo de los Artesanos, also at Vuelta de Obligado 50, with offices that were previously the railway’s administrative area.
The crafts fair was not part of the game
The Neuquén Artisans Fair, which has been installed on the Avenida Argentina boulevard – in front of the Cathedral – on holidays and weekends for more than 40 years, It was not part of the Artisans Walk in the Vuelta de Obligado.
“At one time some of the artisans at the Fair were there but as an association. Something happened that didn’t work“said one of the members of the Neuquén Artisans Fair when she was consulted by Diario Río Negro about that walk.
He explained that the artisans who were invited were asked to be there every day and it was not feasible to produce crafts at the same fair location.
“Having the workshop and the space where one usually works and then goes out to a fair is not the same as being live doing the work, you have to move certain tools, In some cases it is not comfortable, for some reason it was not feasible and they returned to the Fair shortly after.”, he recalled.
The Los Artesanos ride operated for a few seasons in the Vuelta de Obligado.
Coexistence of three States
The general director of Cultural Heritage, of the undersecretary of Culture of the province, Raúl Mansilla, explained that the Paseo de los Artesanos and the entire sector that was the railway property “is a place that we would like to promote.” but they do not find the documentation that enables them to act in the place.
“We do not have reliable documentation that says that it is from the province and that we are in a position to carry out works,” said Mansilla.
He maintained that in 2018 there were actions by the Nation where the Railways intervened again “and took charge of restoring the fallen buildings, among others, the offices in which we operate today,” he explained.
But the documentation for the ownership situation of the group does not appear.
He said he partially knew the context of the situation of the Paseo de los Artesanos, which in the 90s was transferred to the province “like several other places such as those where the Gregorio Alvarez museum or the Emilio Saraco Room operates today; It was the time of the closure of the Railways, ttimes of detachment from the National State”, he noted.
The entire sector was declared a Cultural area with provincial decree 1592/89.
Signed agreements that are lost
Then there was an agreement in 1993 (approved by city ordinance 5,800/93) by which the lands in the downtown area where the train station is they transferred to the city and later ordinances 5872/93 and 7101/95 emerged.
The railway ticket office, the Railway Headquarters and the Training Room, the signage and poster area and movement with the general directorate of Historical Heritage of the province coexist in the same space.
Cultural Heritage includes professionals in the analysis of archaeological and paleontological elements, museology and speleology offices, the personnel area and administrative offices of the sector.
In the place is the Alicia Fernández Rego art room and the Choir Room, a large room that requires renovation and where, in addition to artistic practices, the training of the Fraternidad, the union of train drivers of the Argentine Republic, is carried out. .
2024-10-12 15:40:00