The WTC México began its existence as the
Hotel de México, a building and complex that did not perform as intended. Construction of the Hotel de México was in a lot called "Parque de La Lama" located in the
Nápoles neighborhood (
Spanish: Colonia Nápoles). The lot was set aside by real estate businessperson, José Jerónimo de La Lama in 1947. However, by 1966, when the project started, the owner and financial sponsor was
Manuel Suárez y Suárez. The Hotel de México project included a hotel building as well as a cultural center housing the
Polyforum Cultural Siqueiros and several other facilities aimed at making the complex a hub for business, culture, tourism, and
architecture. Plans for the complex were presented at the 13th international architecture contest in
Munich. Projected to be ready for the
1968 Olympics, the project overran and exceeded its budget. Although the main tower was completed in 1972, it did not function as a hotel, due to political and economic reasons. The tower–as well as the rest of the complex–was left in an unfinished state, aside from the
Polyforum. In the mid-1980s, a project was started to turn the Hotel de México complex into an international business center. Mr. Suárez backed the idea, and although he died in 1988, the remodeling began with partial public funding in 1992. In 1995, the complex–now known as World Trade Center México–opened its doors with the tower functioning as an office building and convention center. Floors 40 and 41 housed TV studios for Corporación de Noticias e Información, which operated
XHTVM Canal 40. On May 19, 2005, these floors were evacuated after the beginning of a strike at CNI. Due to the legal cases that have followed CNI since 2005, the facilities have remained untouched since. The WTC also houses the transmission facilities for
XEW-FM,
XEQ-FM,
XEX-FM and
XHFO-FM. Most recently, the World Trade Center added a second theater: the 7,500-seat Pepsi Center WTC, which was completed in 2012. It is used primarily for concerts and
stage shows.
Functions antenna shown here is the one replaced in 2009, which brings the building's height to 218 meters. WTC Tower has a seismic detector that monitors land movements to stop elevators during earthquakes. The tower is managed by a system that controls the facilities and equipment. This includes the electrics, mechanical ventilation, sanitation, elevators and fire protection. ==See also==