"Tierra Dominicana" Reduced
To Rubble
Tuesday morning a back hoe reduced 11
commercial locales known as "Tierra
Dominicana" in downtown San José to rubble.
The tearing down of the building is part of
a clean up plan of the area that has been
the centre for criminal activity over the
years.
The owners of the buildings decided to knock
down the 625 square metres of construction
to put an end to the conflict in the area.
It is not yet known what will become of the
empty lot, but for now the owner, Joel
Vargas Loría, said a fence will keep
everyone out.
"I have been renting the buildings for a
long time, but because of the problems it
was time to put an end to it all", said
Loría.
The buildings have changed use over the
years, from housing a restaurant known as
"Tierra Dominicana", the reason for the name
of the area, to cell phone sales and repair
centre, to a squat housing complex to a bar.
The buildings were built 110 years ago.
Loría said he inherited the buildings from
his parents in 1972 and is now looking to
sell the land.
The area, in particular the 11 buildings,
has been a centre of illicit activity for
some time. Just about anything that moved in
the area in one of the worst neighbourhoods
in San José happened in Tierra Dominicana,
from drug sales, to prostitution, to hiding
spots for illegals, to hiring contract
killings.
Tierra Dominicana has been a constant thorn
in the side of police who constantly have
raided the area looking for drugs and
illegals and the area where there have been
murders, shootouts between criminals and
with police and a place for anti-socials to
meet and plan out their crimes.
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