Hacienda La Monserrate : a historic structure report and rehabilitation recommendations

• Main Author: Ayala, Karen M.
• Other Authors: Ball State University. Dept. of Architecture.
• Format: Others
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Plantations > Puerto Rico > Manat�i > Conservation and restoration.; Historic buildings > Conservation and restoration > Puerto Rico > Manat�i.; Sugar trade > Puerto Rico > History.; Monserrate Hacienda (P.R.)
• Online Access: http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/handle/handle/185057; http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/902473

For almost 450 years the island of Puerto Rico has had an agricultural economy based on the cultivation and production of sugar. Sugar plantations became small communities within towns with distinctive structures and buildings. When large scale commercial sugar production ceased, plantation houses were abandoned and have deteriorated to the point of collapse. A small number of plantation houses are still standing in defiance of progress and their own deterioration.Plantation houses represent part of Puerto Rico's economic and social history and deserve to be preserved. As a result of their architectural significance and uncertain future, plantation houses throughout the Island, should be documented.The focus of this Creative Project is the documentation of the main house in La Monserrate sugar plantation and present recommendations for its rehabilitation and adaptive reuse. This plantation house is located in Manati, a town along the north coast of Puerto Rico. The document will cover a variety of subjects all related with the history of the development of the sugar industry and its influence in Puerto Rico's architecture. The document includes both, a comprehensive analysis of the house and preliminary recommendations for its future adaptive reuse.It is the author's hope that this document will increase public awareness about the importance of preserving this particular building as well as some of the cultural and economic advantages of historic preservation. The community needs to understand and appreciate their built heritage and restoring and rehabilitating the main house in Hacienda La Monserrate can be the first step to achieve it. === Department of Architecture