What does it mean to be a

World Heritage Site?

Casco Antiguo was declared a patrimonio de la humanidad by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 1997. In Spanish, the word patrimonio has several meanings.

In its most common form, it is used simply to mean wealth of any sort. But the more correct meaning is inheritance, legacy or heritage: something of value one has accumulated or was given and is implicitly expected to protect for future generations. All of us have things that we treasure, and those things are our patrimonio. A ring left by a grandmother, a father's favorite book, a photo album. These things tell our history – THEY TELL US WHO WE ARE THROUGH WHO WE WERE.

Todays reality of Casco Antiguo is that most of the houses have been abandoned or occupied by residents who cannot afford maintenance of their houses. Reason why a group of companies, mostly real estates are buying these houses and giving them back a colonial look and beauty from old times using modern materials.

When the Casco will be restored?

If a brick were laid every time someone has asked, “When will the Casco be finished?" it's a good bet that the point would be quite moot by now. While the date is far from clear, and some debate whether the question is even relevant, a survey underway by the Association of Friends and Neighbors of Casco Antiguo (AVACA for its initials in Spanish) is trying to shed some light on the pace of private development in the coming years.

According to AVACA the survey asked approximately thirty architects, contractors, building owners, and other professionals with day-to-day involvement in the Casco Antiguo to estimate the completion date of each building in the Casco to which they have knowledge or involvement, and then took the average of the projections for each building to arrive at a consensus date AVACA has released a preliminary report that includes a summary map showing restoration by block.

If the projections of this expert panel are correct, an additional 70 buildings will be restored in the next five years, resulting in restoration of 61% of the buildings between Calle 1 and Calle 12. The projections for the pace of development show a marked increase beginning in 2013.