In what can only be described as a rather egoistical farewell gesture, outgoing Guadalajara Mayor Ramiro Hernandez “symbolically” inaugurated the unfinished Corona Market on Tuesday, just two days before he ended his three-year term of office.
Even though it had been obvious for many months that the mercado would not be completed on schedule, the mayor was keen to ensure his successor did not gain any political points by getting to cut the ribbon on the downtown space.
The 700-plus vendors who have been without a workplace since the antiquated covered market burned down 17 months ago are expected to move into their new home sometime next month.
Some 450 concessionaires, journalists and photographers were allowed into the market for the opening ceremony and quickly noted many unfinished details. The floor of the market is still not laid, many walls are bare of paint and the sidewalk infrastructure surrounding the three-story market – which occupies an entire block – is way behind schedule.
Hernandez stressed that construction was “95-percent complete” but chided his colleagues on the municipal council for naively believing that such an ambitious project could be finished properly in just 10 months.
Speaking on behalf of the vendors, Gabriel Delgadillo Araujo thanked the city government for its speed in getting the market built, but called on the incoming administration of Enrique Alfaro for financial help to equip their new puestos (booths), since their incomes have fallen significantly since last year’s fire, after which they were temporary relocated to nearby streets and pedestrian walkways.
As he took office Thursday, Alfaro vowed to undertake an immediate audit of new Corona Market’s financing after the outgoing city council approved a last-minute additional payment to the construction company.