On May 23, 1936, the obelisk was inaugurated in the large space created by the widening of Corrientes Avenue and the construction of 9 de Julio Avenue. Three years later, on Tuesday, June 13, 1939, the Deliberative Council of the City of Buenos Aires decided on “immediate demolition to ground level.” the reason? The dangerous fall of some of the boards that covered its roof. It was scheduled to be implemented in ten days. The news sparked great controversy in public opinion.
On the one hand, there were defenders of the work of architect Alberto Prebisch, who used practical reasons, such as the money it would cost to demolish it and the debris it would generate. There were also other arguments claimed: many tourists came to visit it from the rest of Argentina and neighboring countries. Likewise, it became an unmistakable geographical symbol of the city: some companies made it clear, in their advertisements, that it was “in front of the obelisk” or “meters away from the obelisk.” On the other hand, there were those who considered it an eyesore and a danger to passers-by.
But, in addition, there was a political background: the mayor, Mariano de Vidia y Mitri, who was responsible for ordering the construction and inauguration of the monument, did not have a good relationship with the collective body of the city, whose members decided, on Tuesday the 13th, by a vote of 23 to 3 (Molina Carranza, Rocco Oliva and Elena), to eliminate the “intruder”, as they called him.
The matter reached the National Conference. Santa Fe Rep. Pio Pandolfo came out in defense of the citizen icon. He said it was not a public work, which the council would have to decide, but rather a memorial, and like all monuments, “cannot be subject to the vicissitudes of emotion.” According to Pandolfo, it was the national state that had to determine the future of the obelisk.
The Department of Public Works of the City of Buenos Aires also expressed its solidarity with the Buenos Aires logo. Dr. Nerio Giménez Melo claimed that “the construction of the obelisk was undertaken as a monument (as indicated by the inscriptions it contains) and a tribute to the people of the entire nation, and as such can only be carried out with the approval of the national European Parliament.” Since only Congress could issue this type of honor and not the municipality, the fate of the obelisk was in the hands of the nation.
The ten days between the issuance of the decree and its implementation were fleeting. The newspaper La Razon, in favor of not demolishing it, asserted that “this work was consecrated by popular will, built with a ‘national intention’ and inaugurated by the President of the Nation (Agustín P. Justo). For its part, the socialist newspaper La Libertad asserted that the construction was illegal and of the will of Vidia and Miter. It stated, in other words, that it was the exclusive whim of the mayor.
Indeed, in the countdown, the nation’s executive branch reasserted its authority over the obelisk, and Mayor Arturo Goyeneche vetoed the decree issued on Tuesday 13 June. The memorial was saved. In 2011, it was incorporated into the “Cultural Heritage of the Autonomous City” and today it continues to celebrate its birthday on 9 de Julio and Corrientes.