A New Life for the Old Slaughterhouse

The old slaughterhouse building from behind, showing its tall chimney. 

Bogotá's old slaughterhouse, located on an industrial stretch of 13th St., is something of an architectural landmark, with its towering smokestack and castle-like roof decorations.

The building's conversion
will mean the end of some
great walls for graffiti. 

The slaughterhouse has been shot for at leat 15 years, and perhaps much longer. I couldn't determine its age, either on the Internet or the building itself: the plaques on its walls are so worn they're illegible.

The slauhterhouse viewed from across 13th St. 

Past proposals for the deserted buildings and huge empty lot have included a shopping center. In 2006, the slaughterhouse was briefly occupied by displaced people. Now, authorities say it will be used by the Universidad Distrital as a school and library. And they're working on the site, so it looks like it will really happen. One of the workers today told me the project would be completed in five months, which sounds way too optimistic.

Let's just hope that all of the animals which gave their lives there for Bogotanos' sancocho and bandeja paisa didn't leave any ghosts behind to haunt the school's halls.

A horsecart passes by the slaughterhouse's old entrance. 

Behind the old slaughterhouse is this huge empty lot, where they must have held the doomed animals. Part of the space could be turned into a green space for an area lacking a public park. 

Workers on the building's roof, with its castle-like pattern. 

A historical view of the old slaughterhouse. (Photo: El Espectador)

An illegible plaque commemorates the slaughterhouse's construction. 

Another plaque shows idealized farm animals. 

Interior of the building under renovation. 

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours