The Auditorio Juan Pachín Vicéns (English: ''Juan Pachín Vicens Auditorium''), formerly, Coliseo Juan Pachín Vicéns (English: Juan Pachin Vicens Coliseum), a.k.a., Coliseo de Ponce, is a sports venue in the city of

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce ( , , ) is a city and a Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The most populated city outside the San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan metropolitan area, Ponce was founded on August 12, 1692Some publ ...

. The auditorium opened on 12 May 1972, under the mayoral administration of

Juan H. Cintrón García Juan Herminio Cintrón García (11 March 1919 – 22 September 2012) was a Puerto Rican people, Puerto Rican politician and List of mayors of Ponce, Puerto Rico, Mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico, from 1968 to 1972. Under his administration the city ...

and is named after

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player Juan "Pachín" Vicéns (1934–2007). Initially known as "Coliseo de Ponce" from its inauguration in 1972 until the 1990s, it was baptized under the name ''Auditorio Juan Pachín Vicéns'', to honor the

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

basketball player.

History

The structure was completed in 1972 and cost $2,000,000 ($ in dollars)

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

to build. The auditorium has been remodeled several times. Its original

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

was 7,786 seats. It was remodeled in the mid-90s to add 3,000 additional seats, and in 2001 the auditorium was again renovated to include an air conditioning system, new scoreboards, new sound system, an acoustics improvement project, and an increase to its seating capacity to near 11,000 spectators. It has three seating levels. The auditorium served as one of the sport venues for the

1993 Central American and Caribbean Games The 17th Central American and Caribbean Games were held in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Ponce, a city in southern Puerto Rico. The Games were held 19–30 November 1993, and included 3,570 athletes from 31 nations. History of the 1993 Games Organizatio ...

. It has the largest hyperbolic-paraboloid roof in the world.

Uses

The auditorium is the official venue of the local basketball team, the Leones de Ponce, and also hosts musical concerts, circuses, conventions, and organization meetings. In addition to serving as an important sports venue, several non-sports historical events have taken place there. The tumultuous General Assembly of the then-ruling New Progressive Party held there in 1983 led to the creation of a splinter party, the Puerto Rico Renewal Party, by then San Juan mayor

Hernán Padilla Hernán Padilla Ramírez (born May 5, 1938) is a retired physician and former two-term Mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Biography Graduated from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 1963. After training as a nephrologist, he entered ...

and the defeat of Governor

Carlos Romero Barceló Carlos Antonio Romero Barceló (September 4, 1932 – May 2, 2021) was a Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 1977 to 1985. He was the second governor to be elected from the New Progressive Party (PNP). He als ...

in the 1984 gubernatorial elections. The April 23, 1983,

professional boxing Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

contest between former

World Boxing Council The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation ...

world Super Bantamweight and future WBC world featherweight and

World Boxing Association The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is an international professional boxing organization based in Panama. The WBA awards its world championship title at the professional level. Founded ...

world Junior Lightweight champion and

International Boxing Hall of Fame The International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, right next to exit 34 of the New York State Thruway, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected on ballots cre ...

member, Puerto Rican

Wilfredo Gomez Wilfredo is a given name which may refer to: *Wilfredo Alicdan (born 1965), Filipino figurative artist *Wilfredo Alvarado (born 1970), Venezuelan football defender * Wilfredo Bustillo Castellanos (born 1958), Honduran politician * Willy Caballero ( ...

, and future Curacao sports hall of fame member Ivan Samuco, took place at the auditorium. Gomez won by a third-round knockout. Former WBA world bantamweight champion

Julian Solis Julian may refer to: People * Julian (emperor) (331–363), Roman emperor from 361 to 363 * Julian, of the Roman gens Julia, with imperial dynasty offshoots * Saint Julian (disambiguation), several Christian saints * Julian (given name), people w ...

and his brother Santos also fought at this show, Julian knocking out Ruben Dario Herasme of the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

in four rounds, and Santos knocking out

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

n Raul Hernandez in eight. The auditorium was the site of the wake ceremony for Juan "Pachín" Vicéns who died on 18 February 2007. The wake ceremony for Ponce mayor

Rafael Cordero Santiago Rafael Cordero Santiago (24 October 1942 – 17 January 2004), better known as "Churumba", was the Mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico, Ponce, Puerto Rico, from 1989 to 2004. Many considered him as a synonym of Ponce, being baptized as "El León Mayor ...

who died on 17 January 2004 was also held there as well.

Controversy

In April 2011, the 2012 PPD Ponce mayoral candidate Ramón Torres Morales, criticized the incumbent opposition PNP party mayor

María Meléndez María Eloisa Meléndez Altieri (born December 26, 1951) also known as Mayita, is a Puerto Rican politician who served as the mayor of the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, from 2009 to 2021. Meléndez Altieri was elected during the Puerto Rican gen ...

for placing a

plaque Plaque may refer to: Commemorations or awards * Commemorative plaque, a plate, usually fixed to a wall or other vertical surface, meant to mark an event, person, etc. * Memorial Plaque (medallion), issued to next-of-kin of dead British military p ...

on the bust of Juan Pachín Vicéns that former PPD mayor Churumba had erected at the entrance to the Juan Pachins Vicens auditorium to commemorate the basketball legend. The plaque bore the name of PNP mayor, María Meléndez, instead of the PPD mayor who had erected the commemorative bust, mayor

, a.k.a. Churumba.

Effects of the 2020 Puerto Rico earthquake

The building sustained damage due to the 2020 Puerto Rico earthquake. It reopened in July 2021 after repairs of $240,000. ''Reabre 'El ' tras huracán, sismos, y pandemia.''
EsNoticia. Issue 149. 30 July to 12 August 2021. p.14
Archived.
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Gallery

File:Auditorio Juan Pachín Vicéns, Bo. Canas Urbano, Ponce, Puerto Rico, mirando al oeste.jpg, View of the

Juan Pachín Vicéns Auditorium ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries around the world and in the Philippi ...

. File:Anuncio sobre la entrada principal del Auditorio Juan Pachín Vicéns, Bo. Canas Urbano, Ponce, Puerto Rico, mirando al oeste.jpg, Main entrance to the auditorium. File:Pachin94.jpg, Interior view of the auditorium.

References