The Minerva statute, one of Guadalajara’s most emblematic symbols, is to be taken down for the first time and sent for repairs over a period of four months.
The monument has “internal fissures that require attention,” Guadalajara Mayor Enrique Alfaro said Thursday.
Experts say the statue cannot be repaired in-situ due the constant vibrations from vehicles circulating in the tunnel underneath the traffic circle. The cost of the renovation could total as much as eight million pesos, the bulk of which will cover transportation and insurance. The repair work itself will only come to around 600,000 pesos. The Minerva Glorieta opened in 1956. Minerva was the Roman goddess of wisdom, medicine, commerce, handicrafts, poetry, the arts in general and, later, war.