The Costa Rica National Theater is a historical building that this October will celebrate 120 years of existence; it holds an important place in the heart and history of the country, and many times it gets overlooked.

Impressive paintings, one of the most important ones being Alegoría del comercio y la agricultura de Costa Rica (Allegory of commerce and agriculture of Costa Rica) by Italian artist Aleardo Villa and which appears in the old 5 colones bill, and Alegoría de las Artes (The Arts Allegory) by Roberto Fontana and valued in over US$1 million; 17 sculptures such as Triunfo de la música (The Triumph of Music), popularly known as “La Fama”; lamps, furniture, theater stage curtains, original beautiful decorations, and in total 600 works of art of great historic value.

The National Insurance Institute (INS) calculated the artistic patrimony for a fire insurance in 2017 in US$17.8 million, according to information by local news site AmeliaRueda.com.

The construction and ornamentation of the National Theater was the highest public expense of Costa Rica during the years 1891-1897.

Statues of the 17th century Spanish playwright Pedro Calderón de la Barca and famous German composter Ludwig van Beethoven are featured in the theater’s façade.

This is one of the few theaters in the world that has a system that lift the floor of the main room through mechanic system that was design by renown Italian engineer Cesare Saldini (1848-1922).

The infrastructure of the National Theater requires an urgent intervention, an investment estimated in US$31.3 million; this involves changing the entire electric system, a fire protection system, restoration of decorative paintings, new technology for the stage, and the construction of an annex building behind the theater where the administration offices can be moved to and in this way free the rooms in the theater that should be open to the public. The diagnosis of the renovations the theater requires were done by Theater personnel, ICE engineers, INS agents, firefighters, and private consultants such as expert American firm Schuler Shook.

Once the details to the renovation project are finished and the financing of the same approved, work could begin in the first semester of 2018 and be concluded by 2021.