On Friday we asked the mayor about the teetering residential stricture at 118 Eve Street in Belize City. At the start of April, the council published a notice saying that it would be demolished in the next two weeks for public safety reasons.
Except it wasn't. And we thought that was because the building is of special historical significance. It was constructed in the first half of the 20th century and is the only "shotgun" style house that can be found on the north side of the city.
But, when we spoke to the mayor on Saturday - he wasn't aware of any special historical significance - he said it just has to go:
Bernard Wagner, Mayor
"That house needs to come down. It doesn't matter how we put it. It needs to come down, because it poses a risk to our residents of the city. Mind you, if that one had fallen on Victoria Street and someone would have blamed the city."
Jules Vasquez
"However, you acknowledge that there is a cultural interest in the house as well as an antiquity, as a shotgun-style house. There are a very few of them left in Belize City."
Bernard Wagner, Mayor
"That hasn't come to our desk as yet. There has been no indication from those entities that seeks that. We at the city council and the municipality have to always look out for the people."
Jules Vasquez
"And the people that lives in the house."
Bernard Wagner, Mayor
"The people that lives in the house; you're right. They are not the owners of the house, to the best of my knowledge. But certainly, with the area representative, we will look at relocating them, but the house has to come down."
And while the mayor says he hasn't gotten the memo, we do know that NICH has been asked to consider the structure for inclusion in the National Heritage Asset Register. We'll keep following it.
