Centro Español de Ponce

The structure is located in Ponce, Puerto Rico, on the north side of Calle Villa, at the northwest corner of the intersection with calle Mendez Vigo.

The house was designed in 1911 by Ponce architect Eduardo Salichs.[2] It was built for Don Fernando Manuel Toro and his wife Doña Adela Cortada. The family occupied the house for several generations. On 17 November 1961, the building became the headquarters for the Centro Español de Ponce, a prominent civic organization working for the preservation of Spanish heritage in the city.

The Centro Español de Ponce club was founded on 14 October 1906.[3] Its founders were a group of Spanish residents of the city of Ponce. Most prominent among its founders were Francisco Oliver Culvelje, Bartolome Arbona, Jacinto Arbona, and Pedro Gispert, but the total group of founders included some 20 other local Spanish residents. The purpose of the organization was to preserve the Spanish heritage in Ponce. The first meeting place was at 10 Plaza Las Delicias, on what is now the perimeter of Plaza Las Delicias. The club’s first directing board included such prominent Ponce residents as Bernardo Valdecilla, Pedro Juan Bonnin, Manuel Gandara, Antonio Vicens, Francisco Font, and Bartolome Melia.[4]

Ponce architect Francisco Porrata Doria once presided over the club headquartered at their structure on Calle Villa, near Calle Mendez Vigo.[5] In 1965, its president was Carlos Ortiz.[6]

Some time after 1970[11] the building became the Ponce regional office for the Fondo del Seguro del Estado (FSE), the government of Puerto Rico’s pension and health plan agency, until FSE opened new offices on Avenida Santiago de los Caballeros in 1985.

In 1985, the building became the headquarters for the Sociedad Historica de Ponce which occupied it until 1989. It has not been occupied since and today (2012) it is in ruins.