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NEW
U.S. EMBASSY AT CLAYTON INAUGURATED SEPT. 2007
| The
new U.S. Embassy complex constructed at Clayton was
inaugurated September
18, 2007
by
Ambassador William Eaton and Panama's
First Vice President and Foreign Minister Samuel Lewis
Navarro. The site (which includes part of the Cardenas
area)
is on Demetrio
B. Lakas Avenue
(formerly Clayton Abrook Road) set
back well away from the road
and near
the Esclavas School
(the
former Curundu
Elementary
School
until
1999) close to the back gate entrance to Clayton.
(The Esclavas
School
was
previously near Paitilla circle in Panama
City
.)
Construction, by Caddell
Construction Company,Inc. (selected from among six U.S.
firms competing for the project), began
in early 2005 on the estimated $67 million compound that
now houses the U.S. Embassy previously on Balboa
Boulevard
in
Panama
City
since
1942, the
U.S. Consulate, and other U.S. Government agencies in Panama
City.
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New
U.S. Embassy near
the back gate to Clayton [La Prensa,
Sept. 19, 2007
]
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Aerial
of the new U.S. Embassy complex at Clayton (in
the center of the photo); the front part of
Clayton near the Canal can be see in the far
background. [Photo by Allan Hawkins,
August 2007]
|
While
the Embassy was under construction, the U.S. Consulate
moved from downtown
Panama City (one block from the Embassy
to Building 520 (next to Building 519) at Clayton
temporarily in 2006 and moved into the new Embassy complex
in September 2007.
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The
U.S. Consulate was
in Building 520 at Clayton (next to Building 519)
temporarily from 2006 until September 2007 when
construction of the new U.S. Embassy at Clayton
was completed. [Photo by Allan Hawkins]
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In 1938 the site on Balboa
Avenue was leased from the Government of Panama for 999
years. The chancery building was constructed under the
supervision of the Foreign Buildings Office of the
Department of State in 1941. The total cost of the land
and construction was $366,719.
 |
| FORMER
AMERICAN EMBASSY on Balboa Avenue in Panama City facing
the Bay of Panama. [Photo by Allan
Hawkins, January 2007] |
The
first diplomatic mission of the
United States of America
in the
Republic
of Panama
was established in 1904, the year after
Panama
achieved independence from
Colombia
(November 3rd, 1903). The first American Minister was
William L. Buchanan of
Covington
,
Ohio
. The American Legation was for many years located at the
corner of
Central Avenue
and Fourth Street
. It was raised to the status of Embassy in 1939 and moved
to its Balboa Avenue location on
April 2, 1942
.
The
United States
first established a consular office in
Panama
in 1833 when
Panama
was a department of
Colombia
. It became a Consulate General on
September 3, 1884
and was combined with the Embassy on
April 6, 1942
. Earliest available records of the Consulate date from
1910 when the Consulate was located in the Diario de
Panama Building near the Presidential Palace. It was then
moved to the
Marina
Building
across from the Presidential Palace. It subsequently moved
to several other buildings in
Panama City
. [History of the
Embassy from the U.S. Embassy website at http://panama.usembassy.gov/about_the_embassy.html
.]
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| This
page last updated: July
30, 2008 |
 |
| Site
developed, owned and maintained by |
| William
H. Ormsbee, Jr. |
| 1999
- 2009 |
|
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