After investing $ 400,000 in its restoration, the monument of Social Guarantees will be located again in the new roundabout and overpass in Zapote. The National Highway Council (Conavi) reported that the final stage of restoration had already been entered, which had to be done after the damage suffered by the sculptures due to a fatal traffic accident that occurred in September 2018.
The Conavi engineer, in charge of the project, Carlos Jiménez, said that “the work has been intense” and that all the sculptures have been intervened, which underwent a welding treatment, metal restoration and finishing. The monument is expected to return to Zapote next May. The official added that the cost invested in the restoration was included in the contract with Unops for the supervision of the viaduct that was built in the area, which was inaugurated in March 2020. and that had a cost of $ 17.6 million.
The eight bronze sculptures were also subjected to a process of internal stabilization of the metal, elimination of impurities, external cleaning and welding of cracks. This work began in September 2020, after months of neglect, and the work was supervised by the Costa Rican sculptor, Ólger Villegas, the artist who created the monument.
The artist’s opinion
“I’m calm because if they (Renoir) don’t do it, it would be extremely difficult. They are doing the impossible because the best remains, in the best way. The only thing that hurts me is not having enough health to collaborate with them,” said Villegas, an 86-year-old sculptor from Ramón. The monument of Social Guarantees was inaugurated on September 15, 1993, in the administration of Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier. The work is made of bronze and was made in order to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the enactment of Social Guarantees in our country.
The monument is made up of five sculptures divided into three groups, one of them is the former president of the Republic, Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia, a student and a peasant who represent the creation of the University of Costa Rica (UCR) and the Code of work.
There is also another group that represents Social Security, where a woman is observed on the lap of a man and finally there is a third group that is made up of a woman, a man and a child, who together build a house. This last group was the most damaged by the traffic accident and represents the fight for decent housing.
