The Tico Times Online Daily Page

Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, February 24, 2004

CAPTIVATING transformation: Workers put the final touches on the sign above the renovated entrance of the Children's Museum in April 1994. Although restored 10 years ago, the museum was recognized Friday with a René Frank Real Estate Development Award for its transformation from a prison into a children's museum.
Tico Times/Fernando Vindas

February 24

Maya New Year Celebration
Ceremonies with Maya priests, special food cooked in solar ovens, today and tomorrow at the Casa del Sol in Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Guanacaste. Info: 681-1015.

Concert by Alejandro Sanz
Popular Spanish singer performs tonight, 7 p.m. at the Saprissa Soccer Stadium in Tibás. Tickets available at Más x Menos Supermarkets. Info: 835-0213.

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Pacheco Pledges to Support
Colombia's War Against Drug Traffickers

President Abel Pacheco yesterday pledged his support for Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's national security policy and said he hoped the international community would join him in supporting it.

The meeting took place during the third and final day of Pacheco's visit to Colombia (TT Daily Page, Feb. 20), part of a 12-day four-country official trip.

Pacheco met with Uribe, Colombian Foreign Minister Carolina Barco and Bogotá Mayor Luis Eduardo Garzón in the Colombian capital city of Bogotá.

"I come to tell President Uribe that Costa Rica is his partner in the noble causes the government is seeking by attempting to pacify Colombia," Pacheco said. "When faced with terrorism and drug trafficking, there's no room for being faint-hearted. Neither Colombia, nor the world, deserve the pain and suffering that violence and drug-trafficking cause."

Uribe thanked Costa Rica for its support.

Pacheco's journey continues today in Mexico, where he will meet with President Vicente Fox and the presidents of Central America.
-AFP

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New Awards Honor
Real Estate Projects

The Costa Rican Chamber of Real Estate Agents says it began a new tradition when it honored the country's top architects, engineers and visionaries with the first René Frank Real Estate Development Awards last Friday.

The winners were named during the closing ceremony of a conference of real estate chambers and associations from Central America and the Caribbean, held last week in San José.

Selected by a panel of judges that included architects and engineers, the winners were chosen after close inspection of their building plans and designs, according to the chamber.

The award for Living in Luxury was given to William Royster of Constructora C.O.P.T. Ltda., for his project Condominios Marbella in Los Sueños Resort on the central Pacific coast.

The transformation of a prison into a children's museum was also deemed particularly impressive, so the National Children's Museum in San José was awarded best restoration project. Museum director Gloria Bejarano accepted the award.

The Without Architectural Barriers award for making accessibility a priority in public works was given to the Municipality of Turrialba and accepted by Mayor Marvin Orocú. The award for a private work in this same category was given to Rubén Morales, president of Caja de Ande, for his business's building.

Leonardo Fossati, of Desarrollos Inmobiliarios Habitasul, received the Development of Condominium Lots award for his Valle del Sol residential project in Santa Ana, west of San José.

Other winners included Marisela Chaves of Aldesa Inmobiliaria Latinoamericana, in the commerce category for Terramall in Tres Ríos; architect Ronald Zurcher, of Arquitectos S. A., in the industry category for Global Park; Adrián Chichilla, of the firm Diseños Urbanos S. A., in the office category for Euro Plaza; and Gaspar Ortuño, of Compañía Inversionista Las Brisas S.A., in the warehouse category, for Bodegas Hacienda San Rafael.

The awards are named after renowned real estate agent René Frank, the honorary vice-president of the International Federation of Real Estate Professions. Frank, based in New York, is also an honorary member of Costa Rica's chamber.

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Experts Discard Volcanic Activity
At Northern Zone's Cerro Platanar

An engineer with the Volcanic and Seismologic Observatory of Costa Rica at the Universidad Nacional (OVSICORI) flew a small plane over the peak of Cerro Platanar in the northern zone and took photos the organization says show no indication the volcano is awakening.

The flight was made in response to rumors propagated earlier this month that gas vents had opened on the peak. Ciudad Quesada police officers reported seeing small columns of white vapor rising from near the top of Cerro Platanar on the night of Feb. 8.

That night the sky was clear and the moon full - conditions that permitted the officers to clearly see the upper slopes of the volcano. The officers tried to climb the mountain to get a closer look at the columns of vapor, and said they observed it for two hours before alerting authorities.

The rumor of a possible volcanic awakening spread, causing commotion in Ciudad Quesada and surrounding towns.

Three days later, on Feb. 11, OVSICORI representatives announced there were other explanations for what the officers saw. According to OVSICORI, residents near Cerro Platanar said that during summer nights when the wind blows toward the volcano it picks up water vapor from the waterfalls along the mountain's rivers - especially the River Platanar. Atmospheric conditions are such that the wind creates vertical columns of water vapor over the waterfalls.

OVSICORI concluded the officers had seen the vapor, highlighted by the full moon that night, from a distance of several kilometers away.

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Wednesday October 26, 2005