Paulatina, this week begins the transfer of the personnel of the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) of various areas that perform their work in the property known as Palacio or Casa Yurrita, located in Zone 1 of the city of Guatemala.
Workers in different areas are located at the first level of the headquarters, and a first group will be transferred to other facilities in a sector of the historic center.
Blanca Alfaro, acting president of the TSE, reported that a property was leased to relocate to the personnel assigned on the ground floor, and that the first transfers will begin to be held these days.
He explained that there was a recommendation to release the spaces at the headquarters, due, in part, to the age of the facilities.
Since 1986, this building has been the headquarters of the electoral body in Guatemala.
Alfaro said that the lease of two more houses was hired, given the impossibility of renting a building, as planned; However, the alternate magistrates stated that, given the conditions in which it was, they preferred not to know the subject.
The legal unit of the TSE will concentrate on one of those rented houses. In the first level of the central building was an apartment where around 60 workers worked.
“You know that it is a historic house and we have been recommended that there cannot be so many people within the first level units. The four back building levels are saturated,” said Alfaro.
“We already have a place in zone 1 that were rented; they will move there this week,” he added.
The acting president of the TSE added that the opinion of the National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (Conred) has existed for several years and establishes that, the more people inhabit the property, the more the painting is deteriorated, and that, because it is a historic building, it cannot be intervened.
Just doing a review by a conservation specialist has an approximate value of Q500 thousand, he concluded.
What is it?
The Yurrita house is currently the headquarters of the TSE and was inaugurated in 1910. The residence belonged to the Spanish Felipe Yurrita, who also built the Yurrita Church, located in Zone 4 of the city of Guatemala.
According to the TSE, both works have similar characteristics, such as moldings, mosaics and stained glass.
The exterior of the Yurrita Palace presents a neoclassical style and highlights elements of Spanish royalty. Inside you can see a majestic fountain located in the center of the house, surrounded by cherubs whose faces resemble the children of the owner.
You can also see several paintings of the Spanish Just of Gandarias and monuments dedicated to Pedro de Alvarado, Cristóbal Colón and El Quetzal.