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Replica for an Agua Caliente's still-standing monument in Tijuana
creates controversy
By Maria E Curry
May/June 2020
 The Minaret chimney seen from the swimming pool arch. Photo by Wayne McAllister. Courtesy David Marron, Agua Caliente Facebook group page |
 Original Agua Caliente Tower, c. 1929. Courtesy Carlos Juan Ventura, Agua Caliente Facebook group page |
 Rendering showing the proposed replica of the Minaret connected to the historically accurate Tower replica built in 1988, after the original burned in 1956. Image courtesy Juan Carlos Ventura, Agua Caliente Facebook group page. January 2020. |
Tijuana's famed Agua Caliente's tourist complex, designed in 1928 by San Diego-based architects Wayne and Corrine McAllister, was dismantled after President Lázaro Cárdenas expropriated the facilities in 1937. They included the hotel, casino, baths with thermal waters, a racetrack, golf course, 52 bungalows, and a lighthouse. Nowadays, only a few structures are left, including the Minaret, actually a chimney for the baths; the hotel's swimming pool; the remains of the fauno (faun) fountain; and a few bungalows in Colonial, Mission, and Arabic styles. The rest of the structures are gone including the Agua Caliente Tower, which marked the hotel entrance. Automobiles crossed under its arches, and a light on top guided small airplanes. It became an iconic image through time, appearing on many Tijuana postcards.
The iconic tower was lost in a fire in 1956. In 1988, the Lions Club of Tijuana managed and promoted its rebuilding. Engineer Jorge Ruiz Fitch used the original plans, after consulting with architect Wayne McAllister, to build a historically accurate replica. The structure could not be built on the original site: its new location would be in the Parque Fundadores (Founders Park), on the corner of Avenida Revolución and Agua Caliente Boulevard. As with the original, there are three stories above the arch that today house the Salón de la Fama del Deporte, a sports hall of fame to honor Tijuanenses who have contributed to sports in Mexico.
Now there is mounting controversy on social media about a misguided new plan to build a replica of the Minaret with an elevator and a bridge that would connect it to the 1988 historic replica of Agua Caliente Tower. The tower is eligible for designation as a Baja California cultural heritage site, and the plan could endanger its historical significance, as a new minaret is not an accurate part of its historical context, and the original is still standing.
ICOMOS Mexicano and several Tijuana leaders are willing to help the board of the Salón de la Fama del Deporte with design ideas for the needed elevator without affecting the tower or interpretation of Agua Caliente's history. SOHO members could also help with comments that can be shared on the Agua Caliente's Facebook Page where the project is presented. Join this private group HERE.
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