iCONoclast: Gapan City’s Old Casa Municipal Undergoing Restoration

In December 2016, the city’s old municipal building still sported its baby pink stucco façade. The side walls, however, were brick, prompting one to surmise that the cement front was most probably just a permutation of, or digression from, the original design. Whether the change in the exterior’s material served a purpose or whether it conformed to some construction codes or engineering principles, one thing was certain: to restore the building to its original design, new materials have to be removed. And true enough, the structure’s ongoing restoration has revealed its brick masonry walls.

The restoration project, made possible through a grant from the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, is still in its initial stages. I can’t wait to see how the edifice will look after the project’s completion. I learned from a local heritage warrior, through his post on an FB group, that it will be reused as a museum and as a library.

According to a blog, “the old municipal building had a date 1733 and 1896 on the main entrance with a gun and sword.” A definitive history of the building, however, remains unavailable.

(READ: Gapan’s Heritage Houses: Nueva Ecija’s Hidden Jewels)

Some photos below show the structure’s derelict condition prior to the restoration project. The others are of the Cuison ancestral house, which I didn’t see during my first two visits to the city.

(READ: Gapan: Nueva Ecija’s “Heritage City”)