Argentina seeks to rescue oldest theatre

The latest controversy to roil Argentina has nothing to do with the soaring inflation rate or next year’s Presidential election.

Tongues here are clucking instead over the planned sale and possible demolition of the country’s oldest playhouse, the historic Solari Theatre – seen as an outrage in a nation that prides itself on preserving and promoting its cultural heritage.

Once an architectural gem, the neglected theatre in the northern city of Goya, which first opened in 1877, is badly in need of restoration.

But the formerly show-stopping playhouse – also known as Elsa Theatre, the name of the daughter of a former owner and still visible on the façade – has fallen on hard times, as has Goya itself, a town of 87,000.

The Solari’s once-gleaming façade is now covered with grime and plastered with advertisements. Worse still, its cash-strapped owner recently revealed plans to sell the theatre.

“I, for one, would prefer if the government were to buy it,” said the building’s owner Anibal Olivetti, as he laid out on a table several pictures of the theatre dating back to its grander days.

The building was first purchased by his grandfather nearly a century ago, but Olivetti said he can no longer afford to keep it up. The city of Goya has rented the building from him for the past decade and a half, but the lease is up on December 8.

“It’s an expensive piece of the national heritage to maintain,” he said.

The small city of Goya has been called “Little Paris” because of its grand 19th century buildings.

But it also has earned the dubious distinction of being one of the poorest cities of its size in all of Argentina.

The theatre is just one of many of its buildings which have fallen victim to decades of neglect.

The fate of the 130-year-old theatre has become a contentious talking point on radio, television and at dinner tables around the country.

As a symbol of how it is possible to keep such architectural treasures intact, preservationists point to the successful restoration of the opulent Colon Theatre in the capital, Buenos Aires.

The 2,500-seat opera house, the largest in South America, recently was restored to its original glamour, showcasing its original crystal chandelier and art-embellished ceiling.

Supporters said The Colon stands a monument to national culture and argue that the less-showy Solari deserves no less loving care.

Olivetti said it could well be purchased by a private owner who he says should have the right to tear it down, even though the government in 2007 declared the theatre a national monument.