Escuela Libre de Música de Ponce
| Instituto de Música Juan Morel Campos | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
|
Calle Salud Ponce, Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico 00731 |
|
| Information | |
| School type | Specialized musical arts school |
| Established | 1947 |
| Founded | 1947 |
| Opened | 1948 |
| Faculty | 29 |
| Grades | 4–12 |
| Language | Spanish |
| Area | Ponce Historic Zone |
| Website | Instituto de Música Juan Morel Campos |
Instituto de Música Juan Morel Campos (English: Juan Morel Campos Music Institute), formerly known as Escuela Libre de Música de Ponce (English: Ponce Free School of Music), is a musical arts institution in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is an institution of the Ponce Municipal Government. Its first director was Librado Net Pérez.
The school was founded in 1947 under the municipal administration of Mayor Andrés Grillasca Salas as the Escuela Libre de Música de Ponce (Ponce Free School of Music).
The school's first location was at the structure previously occupied by the Liceo de Ponce (Liceo Ponceño), an early 20th-century girls-only school on the northwest corner of Salud and Cristina streets.
In 1977 the name Escuela Libre de Música de Ponce name was changed to Escuela Libre de Música Juan Morel Campos, after the Ponce composer and conductor. Enrollment growth and increased school offerings resulted in the school expanding its headquarters. In 2008, the school expanded by converting an adjacent fire station at Cristina and Mayor Cantera streets into space with additional classrooms, new administrative offices and an amphitheater.
The former location of the Ponce Region Fire Corps on the southeast corner of Cristina and Mayor Cantera streets thus became the school's new main quarters. The new site at Cristina and Cantera streets had been the former location of the Puerto Rico Firefighters Corps. Ponce Municipal decree #40 (2012-2013) re-established that the correct name of the institution is Instituto de Música Juan Morel Campos. The remodeling of the fire corps building into a structure suitable for school training preserved the mosaic mural titled "La Abnegacion" (Selflessness) by Rafael Ríos Rey. The new location sits across from Teatro La Perla.
The Institute's first structure, at the northwest corner of Cristina and Salud streets, was built in the Art Deco style. The new building at the southwest corner of Cristina and Mayor Cantera streets was built in recto-linear fashion following modern architectural style. The front yard of the Institute at Calle Cristina contains the only olive tree planted in Puerto Rico. This building had been the former location of the Ponce regional headquarters of the Bomberos de Puerto Rico.
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