The rehabilitation works of Largo de São Sebastião started this monday, but are already shrouded in controversy. All because part of the façade of a XNUMXth century building was demolished by the City Hall and the shipyard for the works was installed there. The Al-Portel Association denounced the case and classified it as an “authentic and unclassifiable attack”.
For the association, the Largo de S. Sebastião «with “so facing the future”, slams the past” and this situation “takes us back 40 years, at a time when a significant part of the Roman Sidewalk was destroyed by works by sanitation, due to the lack of sensitivity and vision of the mayors of the time».
According to Al-Portel, "in S. Brás, the practice of destroying, in whole or in part, centenary properties in the heart of the Historic Center, without any valid reason, seems to become commonplace."
The perspective on what is a "valid reason" is different for Vítor Guerreiro, mayor of São Brás de Alportel. Contacted by Sul Informação, the mayor explained that the intention for that place «is to re-qualify. We are going to create a nest of companies and associations, in a courtyard at the back of several houses, which are vacant. The only chance of accessing that place was to make an entrance there».
This new nest of companies should be ready, according to the mayor, at the same time as Largo de São Sebastião, in other words, within five months.
Vítor Guerreiro guarantees that «we are going to refurbish this part of the house, the stonework of the windows will be replaced and, in the future, we will be able to access an old vegetable garden, an embellished space, which has a well and will have an architectural design that we want to safeguard».
Since, according to the mayor, this was the only way to access this future “beautiful patio”, the opening was “used to install the shipyard”.
The mayor says that what the City Council is doing is “valuing the heritage, and not the other way around, as they accuse us. The objective is to dignify that area».
Vítor Guerreiro also considered that these criticisms are emerging within the scope of “a political calendar”, something that Gonçalo Gomes, president of Al-Portel refutes: “this declaration is a flight forward. O timing it belongs to the Chamber, which scheduled the work for the eve of the elections. They are not timings ours, we just react when things happen. We are a civic association, without a political or party agenda».
Gonçalo Gomes also commented on the reason invoked by the mayor for the destruction of the façade, saying that “this does not make sense. It would be like doing an appendix operation using a chainsaw. If the objective was to have access to the patio, this could have been done through the house itself».
The Al-Portel association is part of the Municipal Commission for the Preservation of the Historic Center of São Brás de Alportel, where this demolition was discussed, about three weeks ago.
Vítor Guerreiro told our newspaper that Al-Portel was not represented at the meeting, where this issue was addressed, something that Gonçalo Gomes confirms: «we were not there because we were not summoned. I was entitled to a justification that it was a lapse», he revealed.
Another of the issues raised by Al-Portel, in a statement, is the fact that no archaeological survey was carried out before the start of the work. For the association, “this fact is worrisome, since, given the ancestral location of the hermitage of S. Sebastião (relocated during the construction works of the current Av. da Liberdade), it will be a place where it can predictably occur. archaeological remains, the management of which, in the middle of the construction phase, will prove to be much more complicated and prone to mishaps».
Vítor Guerreiro, for his part, says that the works “will have the Municipal Archeology Office to accompany them. If traces are found, other organizations will be contacted».
Owner who destroyed Jaguar's tile panel could have "legal consequences"
In the statement sent to newsrooms by Al-Portel, the removal of “a tile advertising panel of the extinct Algarve brand of soft drinks Jaguar, which constituted a regional memory and an icon of the urban image of Largo de S.Sebastião, where it is located, is also criticized. the building in question'.
As the association accuses, "this process took place in plain sight, without any control by the municipality".
Ao Sul Informação, Vítor Guerreiro says that this removal "was not authorized by the municipality" and that the process "is with the inspection department of the City Council".
Therefore, "the owner will have to face the legal consequences", concluded the mayor.
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