A shiny and newly restored Minerva statue was unveiled to the public May 21 as fans of the Guadalajara Chivas celebrated their team’s passage to the final of the Liga Mx soccer championship.
Mayor Enrique Alfaro had promised to inaugurate the renovated landmark if the Chivas managed to win their semi-final game against Toluca last Sunday. The team duly obliged and that evening hundreds of fans partied around the statue as it glowed in dramatic red, white and blue lighting. “Surgery” on the statue started in the summer of last year after cracks were discovered in its outer shell. The facelift was budgeted at eight million pesos.