[3] One of the most influential and famous leading figures of the Revolution was Eloy Alfaro, who would subsequently serve as President of Ecuador for two, non-consecutive, terms until his assassination in 1912.

[3] Under his direction, the Ecuadorian government started a series of important works such as the completion of the Trans-Andean Railway connecting Quito and Guayaquil.

[7] The Instituto Nacional Mejía was originally located at the north side of the Metropolitan Cultural Centre[5] and was later moved to an old building informally known as the "antiguo Beaterio",[8][5] Spanish for "old nunnery", (which had formerly served for various purposes, from religious retreat to Catholic girls school[2]), at the intersection of the streets José Joaquín de Olmedo and Sebastián de Benalcázar.

Hence, following the limited availability of spaces to meet the increasing student demand, a new large building was built in the 1950s on the west side of the block occupied by the Edificio Central.

Thus, this complex of buildings comprising the Instituto Nacional Mejía is currently located at the north end of Quito's Old Town.

It was the second public Neoclassical style building of Ecuador,[10] after the Teatro Nacional Sucre and became an icon of the architectural landscape of Quito, in the first half of the 20th century.

[5] The walls of the Edificio Central are made out of brick and were originally left uncladded until the 1950s when several parts of the building were painted in white, in particular the façade.

[2] Spahr originally envisioned the central part of the building (marked by the façade) as serving for administrative purposes, whereas the pavilions on both extremes were conceived as student accommodations, and the sections in between as spaces for laboratories and classrooms.

[11] The building is nowadays part of a larger complex that occupies its entire block, separated from the rest of the educational centre by the Antonio Ante street.

[13] Following the expulsion of the Society of Jesus from Ecuador, its members abandoned the country leaving behind their entire library collections, which were then stored in several sacks.

[10] In 1936, Gustavo Orcés, regarded as the father of Zoology studies in Ecuador,[16] insisted on identifying and classifying the ornithologic section held at the museum.

[10] This intervention was scientific and museographic in character and it included once again the participation of Gustavo Orcés, along with other teachers of the high school such as Fernando Ortiz, Osvaldo Báez, and Bolívar Reinoso.

In addition, there are embalmed species of Galápagos tortoise, sharks, iguanas, snakes, and mammals like the jaguar, armadillos, bats, rodents and marsupials.

[10] The Ethnographic Museum contains a collection of 57 wooden sculptures with traditional clothing and settings depicting several of the ethnic groups of the country,[18] covering the three natural regions of the Ecuadorian mainland and divided into 18 rooms.

The groups represented include Shuar, Achuar, Cofán, Huaorani, Salasaca, Tsachila, Awá, Saraguro and Otavalo people, among others.