Juan Herminio Cintrón García (11 March 1919 – 22 September 2012) was a Puerto Rican politician and

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

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 ...

, from 1968 to 1972. Under his administration the city of Ponce saw the construction of the Coliseo Juan "Pachín" Vicéns and the Centro Gubernamental de Ponce on Avenida Las Americas.

Early years

Cintron García was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico in 1919. El Sur a la Vista. 4 February 2011. Retrieved 29 March 2011. He was the second child of Arturo Cintrón Gonzalez, a businessman, and Herminia Garcia Mercado, a school teacher. He attended elementary and middle school in Ponce public schools and graduated from

Ponce High School The Ponce High School is public educational institution in Ponce, Puerto Rico, offering grades nine through twelve. The school's main building is a historic structure located on Cristina Street, in the Ponce Historic Zone. From its beginning t ...

in 1936. After performing in the business of his father for several years, he earned his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in business administration from

Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico The Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Puerto Rico) is a private Roman Catholic university with its main campus in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It provides courses leading to Bachelor's, Master's and Docto ...

in 1971. He was concurrently acting as mayor of Ponce while he did his college work. On 3 February 1946, he married Elba Cintron Ruiz.

Career

Cintron served as mayor Ponce from 1969 to 1973. During his administration the city built 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 ...

, moved the

Ponce Municipal Library The Ponce Municipal Library, formally, ''Biblioteca Municipal Mariana Suárez de Longo'' (English: Mariana Suárez de Longo Municipal Library), and also known as Biblioteca Publica de Ponce (English: Ponce Public Library), is the library system ...

to a new facility next to

Teatro La Perla Teatro La Perla is a historic theater in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Inaugurated in 1864, it is the second oldest theater of its kind in Puerto Rico, but "the largest and most historic in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean." The theater was name ...

, re-organized the

Archivo Histórico de Ponce Archivo Histórico de Ponce, officially, Archivo Histórico de Ponce Gladys E. Tormes González, is a historical archive in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is considered "the most complete historical archive in Puerto Rico". History As early as 1882, th ...

, enlarged the

Avenida Las Américas Avenida Las Américas, is a major thoroughfare in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Most of its length is signed as Puerto Rico Highway 163 (PR-163). The highway has both of its termini as well as all of its length entirely within the Ponce city limits. I ...

roadway, and opened the Centro Gubernamental de Ponce at Avenida Las Americas and Avenida Hostos.''Law Number 101 of Year 2011.''
Ley Núm. 101 del año 2011. (P. del S. 1855); 2011, ley 101. Para designar con el nombre de "Centro de Convenciones Juan H. Cintrón García", al nuevo edificio del Centro de Convenciones de Ponce. Ley Núm. 101 de 23 de junio de 2011. Under his administration the

Francisco Montaner Stadium The Estadio Francisco ("Paquito") Montaner (English: ''Francisco ("Paquito") Montaner Stadium'') is a multi-use stadium in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is home to the Leones de Ponce team of the Puerto Rico Baseball League (LBPPR) and FC Leones of t ...

was also remodeled. Two other projects inaugurated during his administration were the new Puerto Rico Police regional headquarters on Avenida Hostos and the start of the construction of the

University of Puerto Rico at Ponce The University of Puerto Rico at Ponce (UPRP or UPR-Ponce) is a public college in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is the only campus of the University of Puerto Rico on the southern region of the island. History The school opened on 23 August 1970 as Co ...

Ponce Bypass Puerto Rico Highway 2 (PR-2) is a road in Puerto Rico that connects the cities of San Juan and Ponce. At 156 miles (230 km) long, it is Puerto Rico's longest singled-signed highway. The road runs counter-clockwise from San Juan to Ponce. ...

and

PR-12 Puerto Rico Highway 12 (PR-12), also called Avenida Malecón, and Avenida Santiago de los Caballeros, is a 6.4-kilometer, limited-access highway entirely located within the city limits of Ponce, Puerto Rico, and connecting Puerto Rico Highway 14 ...

. In addition to commencing construction of the

, for which the Ponce Municipal Government provided $250,000, Cintron Garcia also rebuilt the aging Hospital Municipal Tricoche. After his mayoral service, Cintron Garcia served as Puerto Rico's Secretary of Commerce from 1977 to 1984 under Governor Carlos Romero Barceló. From 1992 to 1997 he served as municipal assemblyman in Ponce. He served as a sergeant in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and decades later retired as a Colonel in the

Puerto Rico National Guard The Puerto Rico National Guard (PRNG; ) is the national guard of the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The Constitution of the United States specifically charges the National Guard with dual federal and state missions, which includes to provide ...

. In 2021 Juan H. Cintrón García was inducted to the Puerto Rico Veterans Hall of Fame. Cintron Garcia was a founding member of the Ponce YMCA. He also served in its board performing as vicepresident for two years. He was also vicepresident of the Club de Leones de Ponce (the Ponce chapter of the

Lions Club International Lions Clubs International, is an international service organization, currently headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois. , it had over 46,000 local clubs and more than 1.4 million members (including the youth wing Leo) in more than 200 geographic ...

Legacy

On 4 February 2011, the PNP-controlled Puerto Rico Senate approved a bill to name the

Centro de Convenciones de Ponce Centro may refer to: Places Brazil *Centro, Santa Maria, a neighborhood in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * Centro, Porto Alegre, a neighborhood of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * Centro (Duque de Caxias), a neighborhood of Du ...

(Ponce Convention Center) after Cintron Garcia. However, on 3 February 2011, the bill had been denounced by Ramón Torres Morales, president of the PPD in Ponce, for allegedly conflicting with the Law of Autonomous Municipalities of Puerto Rico. On 23 June 2011 the bill was passed.

Death

Juan H. Cintron died in Ponce on 22 September 2012. He was buried at Ponce's Cementerio La Piedad at Barrio

Magueyes Magueyes is one of the 31 barrios of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Together with Cerrillos, Machuelo Arriba, Maragüez, Montes Llanos, Portugués, Sabanetas, and Tibes, Magueyes is one of the municipality's eight interior barrios ...

in Ponce, Puerto Rico.

Honors

Cintron Garcia is honored at Ponce's Park of Illustrious Ponce Citizens. Only six, of over 100 Ponce mayors, are honored there. A street was named after him at Urbanizacion Estancias del Golf in Ponce. The Puerto Rico & Virgin Islands chapter of the

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States, U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It comprises U.S. state, state, Territories of the United States, U.S. terr ...

dedicated its 89th convention in his honor in June 2012. In 2012, the Complejo Ferial de Puerto Rico was renamed Complejo Ferial de Puerto Rico Juan H. Cintron in his honor. In 2021 Juan H. Cintrón García was posthumously inducted to the Puerto Rico Veterans Hall of Fame.

Early years

Career

Legacy

Death

Honors

See also

References

Further reading