Mexicali Civic Center passages: A hopeless maze where vandals and addicts roam free and easy

REDACCIÓN
THE BAJA POST

Two men who allegedly broke windows in RADIORAMA and AUDIORAMA (both are Radio Station networks) facilities, were detained, it is an area of Mexicali Civic Center that has fallen oblivion; it once was an urban project for the city Government Center, but it is now a Skid Row of sorts, where homeless people and addicts mix and inhabit spaces that were once offices and commercial premises, now in total abandonment.

Once again, vandalism in the passageway area of the Civic Center, mainly in the square from Boulevard Anáhuac to Calafia Street and from Independencia Avenue to Mar Báltico Street, the area has become a maze, where a few businesses still operate there, such as small law firms or some government offices, but for the most part it is increasingly abandoned.

Radio AUDIORAMA, which comprises several stations, was attacked and one of its front windows was broken by vandals, it is not the first time, the area, near the Mexicali Civic Center, has become a «no man´s land» mostly at night.

Some faithful professionals and merchants still have offices or small businesses there; AUDIORAMA and RADIORAMA radio station facilities, there are also two or three Notary Public offices and the California Medios office and studios, among others.

There are passages with vacant land where, in a rescue attempt, some artists have painted murals and at not so long ago they tried to create a space for art and culture, sort of a gas lamp art district but they failed to do so.

It was once a lively district near the State Government building and City Hall in Mexicali but it has become a lawless maze at night, only a few faithful remain there, working or trying to make a living.

However, abandonment, and better choices in other areas of the city, have won the battle against the urban project that was planned in the 70s and that for almost 20 years (or a little more) worked well, but now it just goes to show social reality in Mexicali which is reflected in places like the passageways of the Mexicali Civic Center.

Every night, these passages turn into a lost city, a lawless neighborhood, where drugs and other things dictate the march of zombies that move slowly through the alleys and inhabit some abandoned buildings that were once work centers, the Mexicali Civic Center, at least in that area, seems to have no solution or salvation.