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Pictures of the Hotel Oloffson before and after the fire. (Photo via CMC)
PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti, CMC – Gang members have burnt down the historical building housing the Oloffson Hotel, located in the heart of the upscale Pacot neighbourhood, the owner, Richard Auguste Morse, has confirmed.
“The Hotel Oloffson has burned to the ground…,” he wrote on his X, formally Twitter account.
The authorities have since blamed the “Viv Ansamn” coalition for burning down the building, described as an “architectural treasure” that was built in the 1890s.
The Oloffson Hotel was built entirely of wood in the “gingerbread” style, and its destruction represents an immense loss to Haiti’s heritage and cultural identity.
Erected at the end of the 19th century, the building initially served as a private residence for the family of President Tiresias Simon Sam (1896 – 1902) and in 1915, when the United States Marines began their occupation of Haiti, the building was converted into a military hospital until 1934.
In 1935, Swedish Navy Captain, Werner Gustav Oloffson and his family transformed the building into a hotel, becoming a popular meeting place for artists, writers, musicians, political figures, and celebrities, including the late Jackie Onassis Kennedy, Mick Jagger, Graham Greene, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and many others.
But occupancy declined significantly in the 1980s during the regime of Jean-Claude Duvalier, and in 1987, Richard A. Morse became the hotel’s owner.
He revived the artistic activity with weekly concerts by the band RAM and numerous cultural events. It should be noted that the hotel had not been accepting guests for several months due to the increase in gang attacks in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area.
