A video of less than a minute is enough to showcase the state of decay in which the Sala Polivalente de San José de las Lajas is found, in the province of Mayabeque, an establishment that was once regarded as the first multipurpose hall in Latin America and today lies in ruins and neglect.
The material was published by the content creator José Raúl Díaz Barrios on his channel "El Canal de JotaR" and has accumulated more than 18,000 views on Facebook. In it, the author tours the installation and describes it candidly: "Friends, you are about to discover the ruins of what was once a great event for Latin America."
The hall was inaugurated on June 28, 1981 for the XIV International Boxing Tournament "Giraldo Córdova Cardín," with a construction cost of 1.8 million pesos. During its first decades, it was the setting for top-level national and international sporting events, as well as concerts, theater performances, and circus shows.
The history of the venue is extraordinary. As Díaz Barrios recounts in the video, the Morenas del Caribe—the women's volleyball team that won three consecutive Olympic championships in Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, and Sydney 2000—conducted part of their training there. "Here the Morenas del Caribe landed part of their preparation to achieve their three Olympic championships," he states.
The creator also points out that in that hall Javier Sotomayor first broke the two-meter barrier in high jump, and it was the scene of the first fight between the Cuban boxer Armando Martínez "Armandito" — Olympic champion in Moscow 1980 — and the Canadian Shawn O'Sullivan. Additionally, figures from the world of volleyball such as Karch Kiraly and Steve Timmons, double Olympic champions with the United States in Los Angeles 1984 and Seoul 1988, played on its courts.
The contrast between that past and the present is devastating. As early as 2014, a local report indicated that around 85% of the facility was destroyed, and Radio Camoa reported that it had been out of use for more than ten years. Díaz Barrios sums it up with a phrase that reflects the magnitude of the neglect: “I confess something to you, being here right now is very impressive.”
The deterioration of this facility is not an isolated case but part of a pattern that is repeated throughout the Cuban sports network. More than half of the country's sports areas were in poor condition, according to data from 2023, a direct consequence of decades of lack of investment and maintenance by the regime.
In Mayabeque, neglect is also impacting other facilities. The Campismo Puerto Escondido in Santa Cruz del Norte was reported as being in total ruin this year, and this pattern extends to sports schools and playgrounds in the province.
The Multi-Purpose Hall remains, despite everything, a landmark for local sports: young athletes train there and provincial championships are held. Recovery projects mentioned by Radio Camoa would include a rehabilitation room, a gym, and a museum room, although so far they have not gone beyond the planning stage.
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