Parque Central Complex

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East tower undergoing repairs, view from West tower (February 2006)

The Parque Central Complex towers consist of twin 56-story towers. The buildings are located in Caracas, Venezuela. The towers are the tallest buildings in the country, with a height of 225 m (738 ft).

President Rafael Caldera promoted the construction of the tallest building in Latin America and the Italo-venezuelan entrepreneuring. Delfino built the skyscraper complex mainly with his "Constructora Delpre".

The east tower was completed in 1979 and the west tower in 1984. The towers take their name from the green refuge in the heart of Caracas' urban jungle, but are still in the midst of a vast complex of office buildings and civilized amenities. The view from inside offers panoramic access to the city and the surrounding mountains^[1]. However, in April 2003, both towers were surpassed in height (by only 5m) by Mexico City's Torre Mayor, and thus are no longer the tallest buildings in Latin America, but still they remained as the tallest in South America.

On October 17, 2004, a fire broke out in the east tower. At least ten floors were damaged in the incident. The fire started on the 34th floor and flames reached the 44th floor of the building. These floors housed key government offices. At the time an inquest was being held on the activities of these offices. It sustained critical damage as efforts were hampered due to poor water pressure and lack of fire fighting equipment. Military helicopters tried pouring water from above to quench the flames. It was also feared that the steel structure could be damaged severely enough to collapse.

Currently (as of Jan 2008), the east tower is still undergoing major repairs due to the damage caused by the fire.