An emblematic Guadalajara church is in danger of collapse when a tunnel boring machine currently carving out the city’s third Tren Ligero (subway) line passes underneath the structure in the next few weeks, Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iñiguez warned this week.
At risk is the 460-year-old Templo de San Francisco, located on Avenida 16 de Septiembre, almost directly above where the below ground section of the new line will slice through the city center.
The San Francisco Temple is so unstable that it would be unlikely to remain standing in the event of a strong earthquake hitting the Guadalajara’s downtown core, according to engineers and architects invited by Catholic leaders to inspect the church. A report of their findings has been sent to Jalisco Governor Aristoteles Sandoval, as well as the coordinator of national monuments at the National Institute of Archaeology and History (INAH) and the federal Secretary of Communications and Transport, Gerardo Ruiz.
Rodolfo Guadalajara, director of the city’s Tren Ligero network, is unimpressed, so it seems. While he admits the church has some “long-standing” cracks and fissures in its walls, he says there is absolutely no danger of an imminent collapse.
Nonetheless, steps are being taken to reinforce the building before the tunnel boring machine reaches the zone in a few weeks’ time. The machine is currently about halfway along the five-station underground section of the line, near the city’s cathedral.
The San Francisco church will be closed for ten days while construction workers fill in existing cracks with cement in a bid to reinforce the structure.
Even though he acknowledges his limited scientific credentials, Cardinal Sandoval is adamant that the sandy subsoil in the city center will not be able to accommodate the constant vibrations caused by trains running along Line Three, and that old buildings such as the San Francisco church will “come crashing down” once the service starts.
The prelate told reporters that new fissures and cracks have appeared in the walls of the Santuario de Guadalupe and the city cathedral – both on Avenida Alcalde/16 de Septiembre – during the tunneling process, which started last year.
Sandoval described Line Three as “a whim” of the state government that he says will be “destined to fail.”
Governor Sandoval (no relation) has staunchly defended the major transportation project, which he says will bring multiple benefits to the city, and has referred to the fissures in downtown properties as minor “esthetic” damage.