Photo: Antonio Zavala / EFE
For: Real America News Updated 26 Jan 2022, 04: 54 pm EST
The emblematic arch of La Villita, which welcomes visitors to the commercial district of Calle 26 in Chicago, received Historic Landmark designation, an important symbol for the Mexican immigrant community in that city.
Officially, the Chicago City Council approved the designation of Historical Monument to this construction that is located in the heart of the most Mexican neighborhood in the city. metropolis.
The Little Village Arch welcomes to Chicago’s second business district, only after the Magnificent Mile in downtown. This monument has become the most important symbol of the Mexican community throughout the Midwest of the United States.
Rising about two stories from the sidewalk, the work welcomes residents and visitors with a metal sign with the legend “Welcome to Little Village”, crowned with a clock towering over the Street 26.
The Little Village Arch was designed by Mexican architect Adrián Lozano and was built in 1990 under the auspices of the mayor’s office, the former councilman of the area and now congressman Jesús “Chuy” García and area merchants.
Its construction took six months to lift. The cost of labor and material was $275,000, depending on the organization community Little Village Community Council.
At 1991 the Mexican government donated a bronze watch made by Reloj Centenario, the oldest watchmaker in Mexico, and was presented by former President Carlos Salinas de Gortari to strengthen the binational relationship. That time Mayor Richard M. Daley gave Gortari the keys to the city.
In recent years there have been proposals to modernize the arch; The idea of digitizing the clock to add advertisements and promote tourism has even been circulated, without these having materialized so far.
The designation as a Historical Monument establishes that the city is officially in charge of the preservation of the Little Village Arch, including its conservation, repair and any modifications.
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