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Reported Wed. February 7, 2007
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I toured the inside of "Plaza el Toreo" today. Where to start... Crying is good place I suppose.
The Burladero's are posts with planks and sheet metal. They do not go gently into the good night. The wood shards and crumpled painted sheet metal wraps are all in trash heaps. The statue, plaques and memorials still stand. All the Barrera planking is gone and almost all seating. Crushed cement is in heaps everywhere and the Arrastre looks like a car bomb went off in the middle. The pile of cement and walls where the gate once stood is two feet deep and strewn with metal from the structure. All the Palco doors are off in a pile. The sand is gone, twisted re-bar structures now line the dirt arena. The cement walkways outside the Palcos have wood splinted over the entire Plaza. A work truck apparently hit one memorial standing plaque but did not injure the metal. The offices and corales are to remain intact and functional.
To use the term war zone is inaccurate; though it does look like a bomb exploded in the middle of the arena. It was more like stacked bodies in a mass grave that has been uncovered years later, you begin to realize that it is not random death and a sense of order in the stacking begins to emerge bringing chills up your spine.
I am including two images I was able to take today. I have all the horrors (so far) inside Plaza el Toreo captured for posterity. Here is the rub, I was asked to hold the inside images for a period of time (longer than sooner). The emotions are running through the roof and the biggest of folks across the Mexican media and city officials have been turned away. The Plaza is in full lock down and I do not think I will be be allowed to return until it's all over. I have decided to only show for now, outside images that were taken from the street and public areas. I realize I will lose the "scoop" by holding back the most dramatic and desired images, but the reason given to me was tough to ignore. They love the Plaza more than you can know, and do not want her shown on her knees to be gawked at like a bad car accident in which no one wants to pull over and help. My dear friend in the Plaza said to me today; “I cried for two days when I saw the Plaza. I cried like a Man, it hurts me very much...”.
Mark Mecalis
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Edited 5-5-07 by request of principal parties.
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Reported Fri. February 9, 2007
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THE OWNER OF THE BULLRING MR BAILLERES WHO ALSO OWNS ESPECTACULOS TAURINOS WILL REPLACE THE STRUCTURE (Plaza el Toreo) WITH A MODERN PLAZA PORTATIL.
ON 2002 THE CITY OF TIJUANA GAVE ESPECTACULOS TAURINOS 5 YEARS TO MAKE SIGNIFICANT AND DRASTIC REPAIRS TO EL TOREO DE TIJUANA DUE TO THE FACT THAT THIS STRUCTURE WILL BE 50 YEARS THIS YEAR. SINCE TIME IS UP AND IN ORDER TO AVOID EXPROPIATION OR LOSING IT TO THE CITY OF TIJUANA, ESPECTACULOS HAS NO OTHER CHOICE THAN TO DISMANTLE IT AND REPLACE IT WITH A NEW PLAZA PORTATIL.
PABLO HERMOSO HAS PERFORMED IN PORTABLE METALIC BULL RINGS LIKE THE ONES IN CELAYA, SAN JUAN DEL RIO NEAR QUERETARO. ALSO BRAND NEW OF THESE METAL BULLRINGS IN QUERETARO - INSIDE THE FERIA INTERNACIONAL, ARANDA, JALISCO, CULUACAN, AND SINALOA.
SO THERE IS NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT, ESPECTACULOS WILL BE BACK APPARENTLY IN 2008. THIS COMPANY CAPTURED TWO NEW MARKETS THIS YEAR, PLAZA SANTA MARIA DE QUERETARO - THE MAIN BULLRING OF THE CITY - AND PLAZA FERMIN RIVERA DE SAN LUIS POTOSI - MAIN ONE IN THIS CITY AS WELL.
MEANWHILE PLAZA MONUMENTAL DE PLAYAS OWNERS PEPE AND HIS BROTHER JOSE ANTONIO LOPEZ HURTADO WILL ORGANIZE 8 BULLFIGHTS THIS YEAR AND THE INAUGURAL CARTEL ON THE FIRST WEEK OF MAY COULD BE CESAR RINCON AND EL PANA .
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Submitted by: P. A. S.
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I went to visit the Plaza el Toreo today. I approached from the side entrance in back. The area with the large sliding door was over shadowed by an enormous construction crane. In this case, a de-construction crane. The right rear corner of the Plaza (if you are facing the ticket windows) was missing and the metal cutters were working their way towards the front. The sounds of metal rending and creaking filled the air as sections of the Plaza chained to the crane were pulled from the remaining smaller pieces still connected to the framework. It was heart wrenching to watch. In the four hours I was there, I witnessed the metal cutters and crane remove two sets of stairs, two large metal platforms and one of the Pacifico signs from the structure.
It was a hard-hat area to be sure, but I do not think it would have helped any of us. The torn and cut pieces of the metalwork fell regularly, tumbling to the earth through the remaining frame of the Plaza below. The thump when they finally hit was a little un-nerving. Smoke from the cutters clouded the atmosphere. Freshly cut sections of metal were sized for the ant-line of workers to shoulder the still smoking pieces away. Full bench planks and other wooden pieces were toted out the area that was the Matadors entrance to the Plaza. That “entrance” door and 20 feet of wall on the opposite side of the corrales have been torn down to bring in the crane.
The interior was more of what I had seen in my last visit. More and larger sections torn apart with the accompanying debris scattered around. The security has been upgraded. Open fence corners have been boarded and other areas of possible sneak and peep have been secured as well. In defense, inside is a very dangerous place to be. Everyone I had seen today was in a hard hat, uniform or orange vest. The workers numbered over twenty with security at every possible entrance supplemented by walk around security. The Police substation in the rear was teeming with officers plus their cars and motorcycles. It was the most secure fenced pile of rubble I have ever seen. It is a 24 hour police hangout.
Plaza el Toreo is being cut at a rate that would break your heart. It is dying loudly – sparks and smoke fill the air. With great creaks, groans and the thunder of crashing metal it leaves this world. It cries to the heavens as it falls.
Mark Mecalis
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Link to photos
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KPBS Story
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Reported Sun. February 25, 2007
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Sunday I visited inside the remains of Plaza el Toreo again. There have been substantial changes since my last report. The crane shown in my last series of photos had been moved to a parked position by the entrance to the Corrals. The cement behind the infirmary where it had been set while working was crushed from its massive weight. The large canvas panel of the Matador and Bull from the upper section of the Plaza was leaning against the crane. The workers who cut the metal attachment rods heated the metal to the point that the canvas was burned badly. Over a dozen large holes run through the image. I think any reuse of it is out of the question. The Toreo de Tijuana panels lay in the back parking area. They have faired slightly better, but have been walked over and damaged.
Another crane is in place inside the arena and has been removing material from the front of the Plaza – just to the left of the clock tower (facing the Plaza). Much of the upper sections are gone. The dirt of the arena is heaped with massive amounts of cut sections. The piles tower over 15 feet in height, covering all but the path for the crane. The dirt area behind by the butcher’s room is layered with massive steel beams waiting for weighing and transport. Reportedly over 200 tons of steel has been cut, weighed and sent for recycling.
Metal railings and steps are strewn around the walkways on the grounds. The wall separating the sun and shade (where the band played) has been knocked down to mere inches. As expected the memorial plaques have all been taken from the walls. The standing plaques have been removed as well, leaving only chipped remains. The statue inside has had an attempt upon it already. The cement pyramid at its base has been substantially damaged by a sledge-hammer. I worry it too will soon disappear into the night.
With my fears of the Plaza’s looting realized - there is a silly image from Sunday that will stick in my mind for sometime. Two workers were liberating a toilet from a bathroom in the Plaza. Not my first choice of mementos, but I guess we all have our cherished memories.
I spoke to a person with interest in the El Toreo issue. I asked of the future of the facility. His response was that there were two going rumors. First, that that the property could be developed for commercial purposes. The second rumor, the building of a portable Bullring in the Plaza. He does not know what is planned. He hopes, as do many of us that the portable Bullring will happen. Time will tell.
Mark Mecalis
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Edited 5-5-07 by request of principal parties.
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Reported Sun. March 4, 2007
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It was a difficult moment gazing upon the Plaza El Toreo today. I had not expected to see such progress since last week.
I brought my youngest son with me today so he could have a memory of the half-standing Plaza. He thought of it as that cool place he used to play with a small cape in the arena and jumping through the Palco windows to the Callejon in the off-season. Today, he hung his head, refusing to climb out of his car seat. “I can’t play in here any more?” he asked me. The look in eyes, the pure look of a hurt child who had lost a playground – it was as sincere as the pain I hold. His of play, mine of religion. Yet hearing this simple question and looking into his hurt eyes cut me down at the knees. I looked upon the falling Plaza through my son’s eyes and found it impossible to see more future than its destruction.
Each of us now left only with memories. We all may never be playing in this “playground” again.
Mark Mecalis
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Reported Sat. March 10, 2007
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DIARIO EL MEXICANO. SATURDAY MARCH 10, 2007
YESTERDAY AT 11.00 AM ALEJANDRA PRECIADO FROM THE ICBC INSTITUTO DE CULTURA DE BAJA CALIFORNIA PRESENTED A LEGAL NOTIFICATION TO THE MANAGERS OF ESPECTACULOS TAURINOS AND WORKERS OF PLAZA EL TOREO IN ORDER TO SUSPEND FOR AT LEAST 3 MONTHS ANY AND ALL WORKS BEING PERFORMED TO DEMOLISH COMPLETELY THE STRUCTURES OF EL TOREO. THE WORKERS HAD NO OTHER CHOICE THAN TO LEAVE THE PREMISES. THE OFFICER HAD THE SUPPORT OF POLICEMEN FROM THE CITY - MUNICIPALES.
IT LOOKS LIKE THERE WERE MISTAKES IN THE PREVIOUS AUTHORIZATION TO START THE DEMOLISHING, AND THAT NOW THE CITY IS ATTEMPTING TO HAVE THE SITE OF PLAZA EL TOREO BECOME DECLARED PATRIMONIO CULTURAL DE TIJUANA - CULTURAL ASSET OF TIJUANA . ALL THIS PROCESS HAS THE SUPPORT OF ATTORNEY RICARDO ZURITA WHO IS IN CHARGE OF THIS NEW ATTEMPT.
Submitted by P.A.S.
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Reported Sun. March 11, 2007
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I hurried to Plaza El Toreo today to see if reports of the 90 stay on the dismantling of the Plaza were true. Like last time, the progress from the previous week was shocking. I looked around and noticed that the work vehicles that had lined the street outside the Plaza were missing, and silence filled the air. I am pleased to report the workers are indeed gone and the cutting has stopped, for now.
The first thing I must say about the photos below is, I did not enter nor contact anyone inside the facility. Apparently, the Mexican media took advantage of the chaos and pushed opened a fenced section to get their first peek. The images of the interior having now been published by the press, I decided to shoot a couple of photos through the opening from outside. I was able get a few before security asked me to leave. Soon after, they blocked the hole from the inside with debris.
The “Carlos Arruza Centaur” statue by Bob Harris cir. 1966 in the courtyard is now missing (2nd photo) and thanks to a month of unfettered cutting, so is most of the Plaza El Toreo.
The situation does not bode well for the Plaza we have come to know. Now that the former structure is virtually gone, any plans to save it will have risen too late. If this facility is to be used again for any event, a great deal of investment will have to be made. Given the state of the interior structures and animal facilities, a complete demolition may be the only way to have a functioning Plaza. I find it difficult to believe the city of Tijuana or National government will take over the property and build a grand Plaza on the site.
The next 90 days will answer many questions.
Mark Mecalis
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Reported Mon. March 26, 2007
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Pena Taurina Tijuana-Tierra-Taurina through Mr. Enrique Cabrera Nunez responds to the paid ads by Espectáculos Taurinos, owner of El Toreo de Tijuana, paid in newspaper ESTO.
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This report has been removed. See 5-5-07 Report
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Reported Fri. April 6, 2007
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The Plaza El Toreo demolition “battle” was in the news this week.
Apparently, reporters seeking the named registered owner of the property in question came up empty. It has been reported that Mr. Alberto Bailleres is the, or one of the principal owners. That is only a best guess by sources. Baja California’s Cultural Institute admits they do not know for sure.
In the Institute’s latest effort, (after getting a too late 90-day stoppage of the demolition) made a futile and embarrassing call for the public to bring in memorabilia from 1938-1957 that produced only two people April 3rd.
The Institute will not recover from their tragic delay in filing the injunction paper work that put the demolition temporarily on hold. I have been inside the facility many times since. There is nothing to save. The metalwork structures are 90% cut, the arena has been stripped bare and only the Palco layer remains. The grounds are destroyed and all plaques and statue have been removed. What remains of Tijuana’s historical Plaza that the Institute wishes preserved? Old photos and memories. By the non-turn out, I suspect even those will be hard to find in volume. At this point, a new facility would need to be built to have what was. I do not think there will be any full-scale Bullrings built again, let alone in Tijuana. The Institute has no power to put a permanent stop to the demolition, only a single 90 delay for review of the recommendation for preservation as a Cultural Landmark. I repeat, there is no structure to preserve. It has been ripped apart.
An ugly character has oozed into the limelight of this issue this week through a news article. An unkind, sad figure named Gabriel Robles. Robles, a managing partner of Baja Resort Advisors admitted to his company’s involvement in buying the property and that luxury housing may be the intent for the site. Robles cultural loathing of Mexico and its people was made clear in an e-mail to a San Diego media outlet this week. He characterized the Plaza as having no more meaning to him than bolts and steel as well as launching into an empty-headed scree against Bullfighting culture.
I fear Robles’ declaration of war on the culture of Bullfighting will lead us inevitably to the Plaza Monumental property (his La Jolla based company specializes in Baja California coastal developments). The Mexican real-estate community seems to have embraced him as a good guy and have elected him a board member of the Real Estate Developers Association of Baja California.
Could all this just be that the people who own the property want to develop it without disclosing their identity, and wish to use a legitimate American based firm to run the project? If so, they certainly picked a man with hate in his heart for the Plaza and the heritage of the Mexican people to do it.
The news only gets darker as time passes. When I saw for myself how far down to the bones of the structure the dismantling had gone, it was as Schliemann digging for Troy and finding out it was not at the bottom of the dig but in the pile of rubble behind him - it is too late to recover. It became obvious that they did not intend to reuse the facility. The looting of all things Taurine from the grounds was further confirmation.
The group that owns the Plaza is running advertisements stating their case. Other parties are countering the claims. The public was asked to show their force in number to the city of Tijuana officials and yawned instead. The end of the 90 days will come, and if passions continue, a speedy tear down and unrepentant development of the property will occur.
The manager of the Bulls, who has lived in Plaza El Toreo for 50 years may have no home. Also, full animal facilities and offices do not exist in the Plaza Monumental facility. Some real and quick work would have to be done for Plaza Monumental to continue as a solo facility. I have yet to see more than some maintenance of the property in the last several years. Frankly, I know in my heart if investments aren’t made into Plaza Monumental. It will be a quickened future of decline towards development and possibly the end of the traditional regulation Bullfights in Tijuana. It is a terrible thought, I see Mr. Robles as a devil laughing at this possible fate, and his hands in it.
Greed seems to be the root of all evil in this matter, whose money becomes irrelevant. Those that can, get away with what they may; while we can only watch as the real-life T.V. Novella plays out.
Mark Mecalis
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Reported Sat. May 5, 2007
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The leader of Pena Taurina Tijuana-Tierra-Taurina apparently has been taking advantage of the language “barrier” of our two countries and twisting guesses in articles here with supposed quotes of people who had never been interviewed. I was told today that he has been publishing these writings in Mexico. No conversations were had by me with the persons he mentions in his writings. Further, the sections that were taken from this site were not used as proper and accurate quotes - but apparently this site’s suppositions being exaggerated into false quotes from a person that was never interviewed. One person spoken to in a previous article here (who’s job title was mistakenly listed as another’s due to language translation difficulties) was misquoted by that writer (Leader of the Pena) and those “new” words used to attack a different person. I have not been interviewed by the man and have given him no personal quotes to print. This is something that cannot stand without response. At the request of parties previously named and others wrongly added who were falsely quoted, I have no choice but to edit names and some sections of previous reports that are being used to rewrite events, people and words while attributing my name to them. I apologize to everyone who was victimized by the behavior of this man.
Mark Mecalis
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Reported Sat. May 12, 2007
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A recent visit to the Plaza revealed that the large crane has been removed from the facility. Everything still looks to be untouched since the order to halt the demolition was carried out. One month remains on the hold. What will become of the ruins of the Plaza El Toreo?
Mark Mecalis
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Reported Thurs. June 7, 2007
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With only days remaining on the 90-day stay of demolition for the Plaza El Toreo, I went to see if there was activity around the facility. Nothing has changed visibly since my last visit. Knowing that some announcement is expected any day, I began to look around for what I could see might be used as evidence of reason for the tear down.
In my search, I found this bolt and others like it. One of thousands that held the Plaza’s metal structure together. Over the years, it appears to have lost 15-25% of its threaded diameter. The bolts were cut off by torch - marring the joints they had held together. Leading me to believe that under that form of “replacement” technique (if they chose to preserve rather than tearing down) it may have only added stresses to the remaining metal structure rather than strengthening.
The bolt is obviously compromised beyond safe usage - though untouched may have lasted decades more, but who can chance lives on a hope? The smaller sections of the metal framework are well worn and pocked with timeworn corrosion and rust. The larger sections and joint pieces would need to be X-Rayed before being certified safe. The cost to see inside the pieces and certify others for reuse would never allow this to happen - leaving less options for the Plaza. The old cement structure underneath is not stable enough for a rebuild of any sort with out major stabilizers being inserted. If any readers have attempted to rebuild a very old home, or worse yet an old boat, you may have experienced these types of realities.
So, with my anger in check and my detective hat on I see things in a slightly different light. There may be much considered wrong in what happened at Plaza El Toreo and some of the players in the mix. The truth about the long-term health of a crumbling facility can not be denied. It was merely a matter of which season to call it the last. We, through the darker characters involved were robbed of our grand farewell to the Plaza in which we invested so much love and memories. No funeral, no good-byes only a tragic sense of sudden loss that leaves bitter tears and deep resentments in those that loved the Plaza in ways too meaningful to betray in mere words.
Mark Mecalis
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Reported Tues. July 3, 2007
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It was announced this morning on the 69th anniversary of Plaza el Toreo de Tijuana that the attempt to save the Plaza has failed and demolition has resumed. Corrugated metal sheeting is now strategically encircling parts of the Plaza grounds. It is nice to know one can have some effect on events, even if not the desired one.
There were and are so many people wrapped in worry to tell and show simple truths of the matters here, it is sad. I have had good friends separate themselves from me out of fear. Others demand I take their side or else, though they have opposite opinions. Some may be feeling a little guilt over the Plaza’s missing items and do not like the light of truth. Others, in fear of the powerful and for their professional futures.
Lets refresh. Some people who do not want anyone to know who they are “found a way” to develop the El Toreo property months before it was turned over to the people as a national treasure. It is in dispute as to the transparency of the documentation for demolition. The parties involved apparently employed a strategy of destroying the structure in a method too rapid to recover if questioned in the following few weeks. Many, if not all of the Plazas treasures of Plaques and the interior statue were torn from the facility. There was huge upset over the possibility of photos of “their” deeds getting out. I did not release interior shots as “asked” but was leaned on heavily for fear that my next post may contain these images. I am accused of my images taken through the now blocked hole in the fence outside as being from within the facility. Fear knows no bounds, and proof of location and shooting angle is meaningless to those who are upset (the oddest thing was my image of the cross bringing the most worry). The cultural institute of Baja California was able to secure a 90 day stay of demolition for review. The institute called for the public to overwhelm the city with their numbers at a public hearing on the issue. Only two people showed. Nothing was released from this review. Now, on the 69th anniversary of the Plaza behind a shroud of metal “they” continue the destruction of a National Treasure of the people of Mexico unabated.
It may be too much to hope in this current atmosphere - I feel that a farewell memorial to the Plaza el Toreo de Tijuana honoring the good people of the Plaza’s history who are still among us is in order. Allow us to grieve properly and cheer the men who kept our Plaza alive until it was tragically taken from us all. I would like to see it take place in the center of the Arena in Plaza Monumental Tijuana this season. We deserve our farewell, even if we have to arrange it ourselves.
Mark Mecalis
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Reported Fri. July 20, 2007
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