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Restoration works reveal the historic grandeur of the Elizalde and Co. Building

One of Iloilo City's hidden gems is the Elizalde and Co. building is located at the farthest end Iloilo City’s Central Business District (CBD), which has been declared a national heritage zone last June 2014. 

The former Commission on Audit (COA) building, or the “Edificio de Elizalde y Cia,” is a hundred-year-old complex whose architecture depicts the age of progressive commerce and trade in Iloilo during the late 19th century to early 20th century. 

The National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) started the four-phase restoration project for the structure in 2014. It was authorized to take the lead in the restoration project following a Memorandum of Agreement it with COA when the latter transferred to its new office complex almost 10 years ago. 

The heritage building lies along the Calle Real and at the back of the Iloilo City Hall. The original owners used it as the family abode while a supermarket dominates the ground floor as the first comprehensive grocery store in the city. COA bought the building and established its regional office there until the audit agency transferred to Pavia, Iloilo.
The Elizalde Building structure is designed as a typical Bahay na Bato from it’s massive solid red brick ground floor to wood panels on the 2nd floor. Sliding ( Capiz Shell ) windows framed by double arches dominate the upper level. Atop these windows are transoms made of pierced lacelike wood panels. 

Wrought iron ventanillas in floral design support the window to increase ventilation. Pierced wooden foliated brackets support the eaves and second floor projections. Lace-like design piercings along the eaves form additional ventilation.
Recently, the Elizalde building got the full preservation treatment, courtesy of a DOST-FPRDI wood ID team which identified wooden materials that can be used to restore the building, in collaboration with the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP). The project identified the tree species used in the structural wooden structures and movable woodcrafts in the Old COA building.


CREDITS

Photos 

Text sources:
by Lydia Pendon
ICCHCC website
Manila Standard

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