The Parque Central Complex is a housing, commercial and cultural development, implemented by Centro Simón Bolívar and located in El Conde in the center of the city of

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

adjacent to Paseo Vargas. Within the complex are the Parque Central Twin Towers, two skyscrapers that have for decades been an architectural icon of

and its tallest buildings. From 1979 (when the West Tower was opened) until 2003, they held the title of tallest skyscrapers in Latin America until they were overtaken by Torre Mayor in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. Today (as of April 2020) the Parque Central Towers are South America's 6th tallest skyscrapers and the 22nd tallest in Latin America, after Torres Obispado in

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

, Gran Torre Santiago in Santiago (Chile), and many buildings in

Panama City Panama City, also known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has a total population of 1,086,990, with over 2,100,000 in its metropolitan area. The city is located at the Pacific Ocean, Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, i ...

, and Balneário Camboriú. Parque Central towers were the tallest twin buildings in

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

, though they have since been overtaken by the Edifício Yachthouse in Balneário Camboriú,

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. Since its opening, Parque Central has been a point of reference in Caracas and is its main landmark. It houses many cultural and government institutions and is adjacent to the cultural district of museums in Caracas.

History

In 1969, Enrique Delfino Arriens, engineer and CEO of the construction company Delpre CA, submitted a draft to the president of Central Park, Centro Simón Bolívar, for the construction of an urban development between Lecuna and Bolivar avenues of urbanization El Conde de Caracas during the period of then-President of the Republic Rafael Caldera. In 1970, construction of the Tacagua, Caroata, Catuche, Tajamar, San Martín, El Tejar, Anauco and Mohedano towers was underway. All eight buildings were residential with 317 apartments each, and each building was 127 meters and 44-storeys tall. These buildings were finished in 1972, while two commercial and office towers, known as Central Park Towers, were constructed between 1970 and 1983. The Anauco apart-hotel became a 4-star Hilton in 1973 until 2003. Since then it has been administered by the Venezuelan government as the Anauco Suites. The Central Park complex also houses the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Caracas, The Children's Museum of Caracas, The Plenary Hall, 8 conference rooms, a swimming academy, movie theaters, a heliport and a parish center, among others.

The Twin Towers

The Twin Towers of Central Park or Central Park Towers are a pair of 225 m tall skyscrapers. Between the completion of the west tower in 1979 and the completion of Gran Torre Costanera in Santiago (topped out in 2012), the 59-storey skyscrapers were the tallest in South America. The east tower was completed in 1983, four years later. Until 2003, they were also the tallest in Latin America until surpassed by less than 1 meter by Torre Mayor in

. The towers take their name from the green refuge in the heart of Caracas' urban jungle, but are in fact in the midst of a vast complex of office buildings and amenities. The view from inside offers panoramic access to the city and the surrounding

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

s. On February 14, 1982, high rise firefighting and rescue advocate Dan Goodwin, invited by Venezuelan television company Venevisión, climbed up the outside of the Parque Central Complex.

Fire

Just before midnight, October 17, 2004, a

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...

broke out in the East Tower, which housed government offices. The fire affected regions from the 34th floor to the 50th floor. The tower sustained major damage because firefighting efforts were hampered by non-working automatic sprinkler and standpipe systems. It was feared that the concrete-and-steel structure could be damaged severely enough to collapse, and internal firefighting efforts were pulled in the interest of safety. Two steel decks partially collapsed, and deflection in some steel beams was later found to be severe. The fire burned itself out in the early morning of October 19. Nine years later, on November 12, 2013 there was a minor fire in the West Tower, the fire was on the 16th floor. 420 people were evacuated and 15 were rescued. There were no fatalities. The fire was immediately controlled so that it did not affect the upper floors of the tower. Fire Department officials presumed that the fire occurred in a trash chute.

Restoration of the East Tower

Part of the East Tower's recovery plan involved the installation of a 30-meter antenna representing the sword of

Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...

. The antenna has a height of 30 meters, increasing the height of the tower to 255 meters. The West Tower did not receive an antenna, leaving the East Tower taller than the West Tower.

References

External links