The Río Piedras State Penitentiary, also known as Puerto Rico Island Penitentiary or Oso Blanco (or ''White Bear'' in English), was a

correctional facility In criminal justice, particularly in North America, correction, corrections, and correctional, are umbrella terms describing a variety of functions typically carried out by government agency, government agencies, and involving the punishment, ...

located in

Río Piedras Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Flo ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

History

The institution opened in 1933 under the government of James R. Beverley, and came to substitute the Puerto Rico Prison established by

Spaniards Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance-speaking ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily associated with the modern nation-state of Spain. Genetically and ethnolinguistically, Spaniards belong to the broader Southern a ...

in the 19th century. On April 17, 1991, a spectacular escape occurred which involved landing a helicopter in the prison, and some inmates escaped. Authorities blamed the infamous Papo Cachete as the mastermind behind the escape. In 2004, the

Government of Puerto Rico The government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, organized under the Constitution of Puerto Rico since 1952, is a republican democracy modeled after the Federal Government of the United States. Under a system of separation of powers, the ...

ordered the eviction of the state prison because it was deemed too expensive to readjust the structure to newer and modern facility standards. In 2014, the government ordered the demolition of the property to make room for a scientific park, "Ciudad de la Ciencias". The College of Architects of Puerto Rico (CAAPPR) expressed their opposition to the demolition. The building was demolished in 2015.

Building

In 1926, the Federal Government hired the

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, Francisco Roldán, to design the structure. In a new approach to rehabilitation policies, Roldán added a softer design in contrast to the harsh structures that used to be the prisons of the era. The construction began officially in 1927 with the overview of a professional contracting agency and the use of prisoner workforce. The total cost of the project was $779,822. The prisoners were also used to cultivate the surrounding grounds in an effort to promote their contribution in the economy of the island. The building bears a

neo-moorish Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mid-19th centu ...

architectural style with touches of

art deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

accentuated by the main entrance to the complex. There, two female statues guard it from both sides, with a detailed arch that reads above a quote from the known

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

and sociologist

Concepción Arenal Concepción Arenal Ponte ( Ferrol, 31 January 1820 – Vigo, 4 February 1893) was a graduate in law, thinker, journalist, poet and Galician dramatic author within the literary Realism and pioneer in Spanish feminism. Born in Ferrol, Galicia, ...

that reads "Hate the crime and pity the criminal". The complex featured 332

cells Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life * Cellphone, a phone connected to a cellular network * Clandestine cell, a penetration-resistant form of a secret or outlawed organization * Electrochemical cell, a d ...

and 12

pavilions In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings; * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

, a clinic, a psychiatric hall, a library, classrooms, workshops, a

mess hall The mess (also called a mess deck aboard ships) is a designated area where military personnel socialize, eat and (in some cases) live. The term is also used to indicate the groups of military personnel who belong to separate messes, such as the o ...

with capacity for 500 inmates, a kitchen and restrooms, all organized around an interior patio. The structure also features guerites in the outer facade with bland-colored tiles to contrast its look with its austere appearance. It was listed on the U.S.

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2003.

References

External links

*
A hibernar el Oso Blanco
at Primera Hora
Oficina Estatal de Conservación Histórica
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rio Piedras State Penitentiary Defunct prisons in Puerto Rico Río Piedras, Puerto Rico Government buildings completed in 1933 Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Puerto Rico National Register of Historic Places in San Juan, Puerto Rico 1933 establishments in Puerto Rico Prisons on the National Register of Historic Places Art Deco architecture in Puerto Rico Moorish Revival architecture in Puerto Rico Demolished but still listed on the National Register of Historic Places 2015 disestablishments in Puerto Rico Demolished buildings and structures in Puerto Rico Buildings and structures demolished in 2015