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Finally will
have new aqueduct and new Ocean front Promenade!
Playas del Coco is back on the road to
development
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The long awaited new
coastal aqueduct(*)
has finally been given an unrestricted green light
and all legal restraints have been lifted. In a joint declaration of MINAET, AyA(the
Water and Drainage Dept.) and
SENARA (National
System of Irrigation), it was
also confirmed that everything is ready for quick completion of the project.
On top of this great news, another long awaited
project for the area was confirmed as well: Playas del Coco will finally have
its anticipated ocean front promenade.
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Starting with the international crisis and followed
by the peculiar local water crisis, things had turned gray in the local and
surrounding areas in 2010.
Today, however,
as the year comes to its end, the sunshine returns brightly to these parts.
There will be water to grow...
If you have not followed the crazy “aqueduct
nightmare”
(*) that this area has lived through, we invite you to take a look at
our article in the prior edition where the entire situation is amply explained.
(*) You can
read about it here: Water to live but not to grow with.
After more than a year of monitoring the water
table in Sardinal, of new technical studies, of thousands of legal documents,
of dozens of community and departmental meetings, of many modifications to the
trust and to the project itself, the Sala IV (the people’s appeal court
with jurisdiction) has finally been satisfied
with the evidence presented and has permanently released the project for
completion.
Meanwhile, the Municipality of Carrillo has pledged
to complete the work in a very expedient manner, indicating that it is only at
the expectative of a new environmental feasibility analysis that must be issued
by Setena. (Technical
Secretariat of the Environment).
 
If all works out as expected (we aren’t placing our
hands in the fire, but there are serious signs for optimism), the first phase of the project could be
functioning within a month, with 2 extra wells supplying Coco from the local
water reservoir. A short time
later, the second connection phase will be completed and with this, an additional
70 liters per second will be flowing from the Sardinal underground reservoir.
Finally, Playas del Coco and surrounding areas will
be able to retake the road leading to growth!
The houses and condos whose processes of
construction had been halted will now be able to complete their work.
Those without jobs will see opportunities arrive
once more.
The large international hotels that had put their
plans on hold in this area (Marriott, Exclusive Resorts, Miraval, Westin) will finally be in a position to take their projects to the next step.
And those who were doubtful about investing in the
area now will be able to regain the confidence in the area’s promising future.
Coco will have a new Ocean Front Promenade! This could easily have been
one more of the good plans that never manage to make the transition to reality.
In fact, this idea remained on paper for a very long time, so much so that many
were already convinced that the ocean front promenade in Playas del Coco would
never come to exist.
Luckily for Coco residents
and tourists, that will not be the case.
The reason for the optimism
comes from the fact that all the administrative processes (aka
bureaucratic red tape) have been completed without any pitfalls and, save any unpredictable
surprises, the park is going to be ready in about 3 months. Things are going fast and
straight this time.
While we were preparing
this article, we were told by Carrillo’s officers that construction should
start very soon (exact date was unclear). We though...mmm, in tico
time that’s probably a couple of weeks.
What a big surprise (and
lesson) we had just 3 days later, when a call from Filadelfia confirmed that the
very next day construction would begin!! The day we closed this issue, the construction
was begining.
Our distrust was shot down. No tico time this time...
This new coastal promenade,
designed by Ronald Zürcher will encompass the area between the 2 estuaries of Playas del Coco
and will include footpaths, benches, trashcans, lighting, abundant green areas,
service kiosks and a small open-air amphitheater.
As a precautionary measure
so as not to affect the tourist traffic during the high season, the project has
been divided in 3 stages, with construction beginning on the west side and then
the east side of the beach, reserving the area of the Central Park as the last
step for when the tourist seasonal onslaught has diminished.
To continue with the good
news, we can tell you that this promenade is part of a larger plan that in
subsequent stages will bring other improvements to Coco. This includes the building of a new
police station, a tourist pier and complete public bathrooms, among
others.
Rendering of Coco’s beach promenade designed by the famous Costa Rican Architect Ronald Zürcher. 
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