The Banco de Ponce building, a historic building in
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Ponce (, , , ) is both a city and a municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government.
Ponce, Puerto Rico's most populated city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, was founded on 12 August 1 ...
, was the first and main office of
Banco de Ponce until the company merged with
Banco Popular in 1990. Though its headquarters had moved to a presumptuous building in
Hato Rey
Hato Rey is a former barrio located in the northwest part of the dissolved municipality of Río Piedras. It now stretches over three barrios, of the municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico:
Urban landscape
Its name means "king's cattle farm" (' ...
's
Milla de Oro
La Milla de Oro (English language, English for ''the golden mile'') is both the popular name given to the main central business district of San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan and a nickname given to the section of Avenida Juan Ponce de León, Juan Po ...
by then, Banco de Ponce continued to consider this building its main office, until the company merged with
Banco Popular in 1990. The building was listed on the U.S.
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
on June 25, 1987. It was built in 1924.
Location
The building is located facing
Plaza Degetau
Plaza Degetau, formally Plaza Federico Degetau, is the larger of two plazas at Plaza Las Delicias, the main city square in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The other plaza is named Plaza Muñoz Rivera and is located north of Plaza Degetau. The ...
. The large structure occupies a small
city block. It is bounded by Mayor,
Francisco Parra Duperon (also known as
Comercio), Marina, and Amor streets. Amor street was also called ''Callejon Amor'', or Amor Alley; literally, ''Love Alley''. In 1991, Amor street was converted into a
promenade
An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cl ...
and renamed Paseo Antonio Arias Ventura, after the long-time employee of the bank who started as a custodian and rose to become the bank's general manager.
Architecture
The building's architect was
Francisco Porrata Doria
Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''.
Nicknames
In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father of ...
.
The Banco de Ponce building is a four-story brick and concrete structure. As it is set in a very narrow triangular lot defined by near-parallel Amor and Comercio Streets, the architect's solution to the lot's footprint geometry was the development of a continuous facade enveloping these two streets and the narrow front to
Plaza Las Delicias
Plaza Las Delicias is the main plaza in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The square is notable for its fountains and for the various monuments it contains. The historic Parque de Bombas and Ponce Cathedral buildings are located within the plaza ...
.
['. National Register of Historic Places. NRHP Focus Database Listing # 87001003. Retrieved 16 January 2011.]
The predominant style is related to the
Beaux art neoclassical, with three
horizontal bands defining this wraparound facade. The base is made of a pinkish stone
extracted from a quarry close to the city. This stone has been commonly used in other
Ponce buildings.
The second and third floors house bank office. "These are rendered in elaborate plasterwork with square Corinthian columns, brackets, medallions and panels between the structural beams ornamented with paterae. Naturalistic motifs are ubiquitous."
For a while, the building's third floor was used as a ballroom for
Ponce's old casino.
Contemporary use
In 1990, at the time of the merger between Banco de Ponce and Banco Popular, Banco de Ponce continued to operate at this building as Banco de Ponce, but eventually the BanPonce Corporation branded all of its branches with the Banco Popular name. Subsequently, the building was sold to
Scotiabank, the Canadian concern, but later Banco Popular switched with Scotiabank the Banco de Ponce building, and Banco Popular has been using it since as its downtown Ponce branch.
''Municipalities / Ponce, Former Banco de Ponce.''
Encyclopedia Puerto Rico. Retrieved 30 June 2012. Today, the first floor of the building houses a branch of Banco Popular. The fourth floor houses Banco Popular's regional offices and the Commercial Banking Center.
See also
* Banco de Ponce
* Banco Crédito y Ahorro Ponceño (building)
The Banco Crédito y Ahorro Ponceño building (or Banco Crédito, for short), a historic building in Ponce, Puerto Rico, was the first and main office of the historic Banco Crédito y Ahorro Ponceño (English: ''Ponce Credit and Savings Bank''), ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Banco De Ponce
Commercial buildings completed in 1924
National Register of Historic Places in Ponce, Puerto Rico
Bank buildings on the National Register of Historic Places
Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Puerto Rico
Neoclassical architecture in Puerto Rico
Beaux-Arts architecture in Puerto Rico
1924 establishments in Puerto Rico
Banks of Puerto Rico