It is the largest building in the municipality in terms of footprint area and the only one that occupies an entire city block.

Upon its opening, some of the former fruits-and-vegetables merchants from the old Plaza del Mercado Isabel II building moved in, but many did not.

In 1981, a new structure was built two blocks east of the Isabel II building and was named Plaza del Mercado Juan Bigas.

[5] Meanwhile, the Plaza del Mercado Isabel II building was restored starting in 1980 -including the addition of air conditioning for the first time- and reopened in 1989.

[8] Being not a municipal property but a state property, on June 28, 2010, Governor Luis Fortuño signed Senate Resolution 191, transferring ownership of the Plaza del Mercado de Ponce Juan Bigas building to the Ponce Municipal Government.

[10] The remodeling of the old Juan Bigas building to be used for municipal government services was to occur at a cost of $6.828 million.

[11] A 27 July 2011 news report stated work on the Juan Bigas building would commence in October 2011 at an expected cost of $15 million.

[12] A 26 June 2013 news clip reported that renovations had been completed and the first two floors of the facility were to open by the end of July 2013.