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LOCAL Thursday 16 May 2024

In celebrating 200 years of Oranjestad...

Learn about the history of the famous town hall!

(Oranjestad)—If you’ve ever mansion for the first time, fur-
taken a stroll through main nished entirely by her sisters-
street Oranjestad, you may in-law.
have stumbled upon a big
green house with beautiful The mansion also contained
colonial design. This leg- the doctor’s office, as well as
endary house, now used a pharmacy. After the death
as a town hall for civil mar- of Jacobo, the house was
riages, was once owned by inherited by his son, an Aru-
a wealthy doctor and formed ban dentist, who converted
part of the elite neighbor- Jacobo’s office into his own
hood in Oranjestad. dental practice. Over the
by architect Chibi Wever, years, the house was rented
Jacobo Eloy Arends was an and constructed under the and used by third parties, but
Aruban physician, and in leadership of famous master eventually fell into disrepair,
lived in Oranjestad during carpenter, Dada Picus, who as the maintenance cost be-
the 1920s. In 1922, he mar- was famous at the time for came too high to cover.
ried Maria Monica Lacle, the his construction of beautiful
daughter of well-known busi- buildings. The land was sold to Land
ness man at the time, Adri- Aruba in 1986, but it did not
aan Lacle. The two lived a The construction of the house see a renovation until 1997.
posh life in the city center, started once Jacobo and Nowadays, it serves to host
and their mansion—once the Maria got engaged. It is weddings, and is attached to
center for neighborhood par- said that during the time of a modern building situated
ties—now serves as a public construction, Maria was not behind—the Aruban census by Jacobo’s brother Fred- in ruins. However, the Aru-
town hall for civil marriages allowed to see the building office. erico Maximiliaan (Machi) ban government recently
and is a cultural monument nor be anywhere near the Arends. Frederico was mar- announced its official res-
on the island. construction site. It wasn’t Jacobo and Maria’s mansion ried to Veneranda (whom toration, with plans to con-
until after her honeymoon was situated in front of anoth- the mansion was named vert this monument into a
The house was designed that she saw the completed er famous mansion, owned after). Their house was also governmental office and
constructed by Dada Picus, public space for visitors of
utilizing Veneranda’s design Oranjestad.
vision that was inspired by a Source and pictures credited
house she saw in Cartagena, to: “De Kolibrie op de Rots
Colombia. (en meer over the geschie-
denis van Aruba)” by Evert
Nowadays, this mansion lies Bongers.q