Ratisbona, a German multinational company dedicated to the development of commercial real estate projects, wants to build a supermarket, in part of Fábrica do Inglês, in Silves.
The business interests Caixa Geral de Depósitos, which is owner of the portion of Fábrica do Inglês where the commercial unit is to be builtl, but the Municipality of Silves, which has the last word in the approval, as the entire complex is classified as heritage of municipal interest, has already said no.
The Portuguese branch of the German multinational (Regensburg Promotions and Construction Lda) argues that the ALDI supermarket “will generate a significant number of direct and indirect jobs, most of these places, and will complement the existing commercial offer in Silves, resulting in an investment of around 3,5 million euros, which we believe has all the conditions for to be successful, and that can contribute to the viability of the revitalization, rehabilitation and reopening of Fábrica do Inglês, a unique and striking space in the city of Silves».
Regensburg: ALDI supermarket «will generate a significant number of direct and indirect jobs, and will complement the existing commercial offer in Silves»
For the site, one of the two matrix articles in which Fábrica do Inglês is divided, in the part of the land of 5000 square meters where the event tent and the “cybernetic” font used to exist, was approved in 2007 by the City Council of Silves, a Prior Information Request for an Aparthotel with 120 rooms and four floors above ground.
This request was made even when Fábrica do Inglês was owned by the Alicoop/Alisuper group, after a process in which the land occupied by the complex was allowed to be divided into two matrix articles.
The construction of an Aparthotel with four floors above the ground – despite being officially presented as a “charm hotel” – was defended as a solution to the serious problems of Fábrica do Inglês, which was already walking by leaps and bounds, alongside the Alicoop/Alisuper group, for a ruinous insolvency process. This project, with the insolvency, ended up in the drawer, and now it is for the same land that the intention of building a supermarket for the German chain ALDI arises.
Regarding the Aparthotel, which was approved by the Chamber in 2007, when the municipality was chaired by the social democrat Isabel Soares, sister of the then chairman of the board of directors of the Alicoop/Alisuper group, the current mayor, Rosa Palma, elected by the CDU in the Autárquicas from last year, he just says: «maybe, a few years ago, bad decisions were taken. Now, we have to learn from previous mistakes and not make decisions that could perpetuate those mistakes».
But the multinational Ratisbona, which promotes the construction, in a clarification sent to Sul Informação, does not consider the supermarket to be a mistake. And he emphasizes that the previous project «has an extremely serious impact and dimension for the Fábrica do Inglês and for the Cork Museum, not respecting the existing heritage», defending that it was «in this sense that it was proposed to replace the aforementioned Aparthotel by a unit. (supermarket) with 900 square meters of sales area'.
Empresa Regensburg: the project "does not cover or alter in any way the Cork Museum, as well as the adjacent buildings"
The question of the eventual construction of a supermarket in that half of the Fábrica do Inglês has been mentioned whenever the future of the Cork Museum, closed for five years, and whose mobile assets are discussed. was purchased, last May, at a public auction, by Grupo Nogueira, curiously current owner of the Alisuper supermarket chain.
Ratisbona, in the clarification sent to our newspaper, also insists on stressing that its claim focuses "only on the second site, bordering the Cork Museum, but independent" from it. "The claim does not cover or alter in any way the Cork Museum, as well as the adjacent buildings, formerly used as restaurants, bars and cafes, and, on the land where the proposed construction of the supermarket focuses, there are only storage areas/ technical support and a tent aboveground for events», stresses the multinational.
In fact, the company even defends that the Cork Museum, which «is and will always be an integral part of a solution for the Fábrica do Inglês», should be maintained and reopened, «driven by the construction of a commercial area that can make the opening feasible. from the entire Fábrica do Inglês complex to the population and visitors of Silves».
For this, they argue that, in the supermarket's architectural project "there was, on our part, a clear concern to respect the existing heritage as well as all its surroundings", adding that the commercial unit fits "perfectly in the context in which it operates , taking into account the history and image of Fábrica do Inglês». And they also say that the project was «prepared in accordance with contributions from the Municipality of Silves, for example, with the use of the crisp yellow color on the building's façade, so characteristic of Fábrica do Inglês».
As for the characteristics of what is proposed, they reveal that the building «has one floor, with 1.453 square meters of gross building area and 900 square meters of commercial area, which allows for a reduced visual impact of the project. The 80 surface parking spaces proposed will certainly facilitate the access of visitors to the site, as it is not intended that there will be barriers or fences between the supermarket's land and the Museum's land”, as shown in the images.
For all this, argues Regensburg, «the use of the land bordering the Cork Museum for the construction of a commercial surface is perfectly compatible with what has existed and will exist in the future, allowing to streamline and enhance the entire surrounding space, namely the Museum of Cork and all other aspects of the project (leisure/services/commerce/restoration areas), consubstantiating the implementation of an economically viable and feasible solution, with a view to reopening the Fábrica do Inglês, including the Cork Museum and adjacent buildings».
Stating that it does not want to close the door to dialogue, Regensburg assures that “there is availability and flexibility on our part to be able to change the solution through new suggestions that may be made and considered valid for the improvement of the space in question”.
Rosa Palma: «For that specific place, everyone spoke out against the intention of building the supermarket»
«We clearly want to be part of the solution, giving back a heritage to the population of the Algarve in general and to the inhabitants of Silves in particular», guarantee the promoters.
Rosa Palma, mayor of Silves, told the Sul Informação that «the permanent and non-permanent executive» already had a meeting with representatives of Regensburg, where the intention to build the supermarket in half of Fábrica do Inglês was discussed and rejected.
«They were told, very clearly, and by all the members of the permanent and non-permanent executive, that, for that space, the project does not fit. For that specific place, everyone spoke out against the intention of building the supermarket», stressed the mayor of Silvense. That is, both the president and the two councilors elected by the CDU (Mário Godinho and Maria Luísa Luís), as well as the opposition councilors – those from the PSD (Rogério Pinto and Graça Neto) and those from the PS (Fernando Serpa and Paulo Pina) – they immediately expressed their disagreement with the multinational's project.
Rosa Palma added that, already after that meeting, a "request for prior communication" of the work was received at the Silves Chamber, which will now elicit an official response from the municipal services.
«The entire Fábrica do Inglês complex is classified and, however beautiful this project wants to show itself, it cannot even be approved for there. It is difficult to tear down walls, as the project foresees, because that would be to declassify the space», underlined the mayor.
Fábrica do Inglês, because of the times when cork stoppers were produced there and because of what was later the dream of an animation complex that was supported by the savings of many small entrepreneurs, «changes a lot with our roots», he stressed Pink Palm.
If Ratisbona wants to be "part of the solution", as she says, then the mayor of Silvense challenges the multinational company to "come with us to discover and assess other possible locations, which are available, to install the supermarket in Silves".
Manuel Castelo Ramos, former director of the now closed Cork Museum and great activist for the defense of the integrity of Fábrica do Inglês, in turn, interrogates: «there are so many abandoned sites in the city, so many disused factories, why do they want to come here, get into a listed building?” «Safeguarding the distances between the importance of the Castle and the Factory, it is as if they now wanted to put a supermarket in the castle, saying that this was the only way to make it economically viable. What they want is to take advantage of the quality of a complex that is classified heritage to do business».
Rosa Palma: «We challenge the company to come with us to know and assess other possible locations, which are available, to install the supermarket in Silves»
Confronted by Sul Informação with the invitation of the president of the Chamber, which had already been made during the meeting between the executives and company representatives, Henrique Torres, from Regensburg, guarantees that "there is no alternative to that location in Fábrica do Inglês". «Only that location is viable, in terms of future store sales. I can't find any other place that can guarantee a sales volume that justifies the investment of 3,5 million euros, elsewhere in the city», he concluded.
While the issue of the Cork Museum estate and the museum structure itself is not resolved, the intention of building a supermarket at Fábrica do Inglês is thus another headache for all the parties involved.
Note: 3D preview images of the supermarket project were sent to Sul Informação by the company Regensburg
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