Unsurprising business failure fits a former Canal Zone pattern

Not a surprise

The 24 convenience store in Balboa, which also had a little cafeteria, finally closed its doors and few were surprised. The business had been declining for years.

People might be able to assign blame here or there, but notice that the area isn't all that business-friendly and that's in large part due to demographic and land use changes largely driven by the decisions of government entities.

In Canal Zone days, Balboa was the cultural, shopping, service, entertainment and governmental center for the American enclave, and its principal residential area as well. But the Canal Zone government shut down in 1979 and the old Panama Canal Company's commissaries and clubhouses were divested in favor of Panamanian entrepreneurs.

The reversion of the Panama Railroad was one of the great failures of the Torrijos dictatorship, which in short order eliminated the Balboa railroad station's function. When the new railroad came along, it didn't have passenger service to Balboa.

The residences along the Prado and the community's schools were gradually turned into Panama Canal offices and that part of Balboa gradually became a depopulated canal administrative center.

The expansion of the privatized Port of Balboa reduced the Diablo residential area and cut off its most direct street to Balboa. The Panama City municipal government moved the artisans who sold their work at Stevens Circle elsewhere. The canal's work force was downsized, and for both it and the port workers, one of the few successful businesses in Balboa, the Niko's next to the stadium, was a much more attractive cafeteria than the undercapitalized 24 store.

Decolonization dictated a drastic change in Balboa's function, but what came after the Canal Zone --- or, for the most part, what development did not happen --- was dictated by decisions by Panama's national government, with the Panama Canal Authority and city authorities playing supporting roles. Other than the expansion of the Port of Balboa and the ACP administrative offices, Panama has never quite figured out what to do with Balboa.

Photos by Eric Jackson

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