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Monterrey's Industrial Facilities: Foundry, Brewery and Glassworks

Les noms des biens figurent dans la langue dans laquelle les Etats parties les ont soumis.

Mexique (Amérique latine et Caraïbes)
Date de soumission : 20/11/2001
Critères: (iv)(vi)
Catégorie : Culturel
Soumis par : INAH/CONALMEX Puebla 95, Colonia Roma 06700 Mexico E-mail: direccion.pmundial@inah.gob.mx
Coordonnées 25°40'11" N - 100°18'26" W
Ref.: 1595

Description

Within the national and Latin American context, the city of Monterrey stands out as a thriving industrial centre. During the XIX century it had a close relationship with the United States, which resulted in a growing economy and eventually, from 1890 to 1910, in a great industrialisation process, which spawned an important group of regional entrepreneurs that is still very much at work. Monterrey's Iron and Steel Foundry is evidence of this process. It spreads over 113 hectares including various facilities built from 1910, when it was founded, to 1986, when it closed down. These facilities include the general offices, director's house, Steel School, model, carpentry and electrical workshops, model and oil storage rooms, an oxygen plant, the bronze and wheel smelting unit, machinery rooms, electric generator and converter plants, the High Furnace glassblowers and a combination mill. By 1903 most of the facilities were up and running thanks to the initiative of local families and a small amount of French, Spanish and U.S. capital. Due to the expansion of train lines, there was a large demand at the national level for products from this industrial centre, such as steel rods, metal sections, train rails and wheels, as well as steel structures. Around 1910 nearly two thousand workers were employed in various areas in the foundry. By 1986 this industry had become the symbol of the city of Monterrey, and was responsible for a large percentage of the gross national product, therefore benefiting many families. In more recent times the industrial complex was fitted as a large Cultural Centre, with an Arts Centre, an auditorium, a f4m library, a library, bookstores specialising in art and industry, an ecological reserve, the Museum of Technology and a Business Centre. Cuauhtémoc Brewery and the Glassworks have a common origin. The former was founded in 1890, and eventually glass bottles had to be produced to satisfy an increasing demand. Thus, the Monterrey Glassworks Company was born in 1909. Cuauht6moc Brewery was established north of the city of Monterrey, spreading over 20 hectares, and construction finished around 1905. Architect Ernest C. Jansen designed the Brewery facilities, which included an area for steam boilers that produce 565 tons of ice per year, as well as a General Workshop of Industrial Technique, used for repair and maintenance of all machinery and equipment. In 1977 some adaptations were made to the Brewery and the Monterrey Museum, now closed, was created for the display of national and international contemporary painting. Monterrey Glassworks Company spreads over nearly 90,000 square metres and all its facilities were built mainly with brick and iron sheets. The Glassworks has an office area, calcining and bottle-making furnaces, crystallisation tanks, an area for the reduction of sodium sulphate, a lime deposit, large steam boilers, two raw material mills and bottle-making machinery.