Loulé Market will have a food court, with the aim of creating a «new pole of attraction» for customers. The works should start at the end of September and, when they finish, in addition to four restaurants, the emblematic space in Loulé will also have new opening hours.
The news has been announced to Sul Informação by David Pimentel, chairman of the board of directors of Loulé Concelho Global, the municipal company that manages the market.
«Our idea is to create four restaurants in the current central square of the Market that will be an anchor to attract customers throughout the day. We want a complementary and differentiating offer from what already exists in terms of restaurants in the city», he began by explaining.
For everything to work, the opening hours of the space will be extended. Currently, the Market opens at 7:00 am and closes at 15:00 pm. In the future, it will open at the same time, but it will only close at 23:00 or 24:00, without interruption.
«We want to enhance the visits of customers and tourists in the afternoon, keeping the Market open. Thus, at the end of the day, people will also be able to buy the products that the newsstands sell, not going to a large commercial area», framed David Pimentel.
In addition to the restaurants, which will be open for lunch and dinner, the objective is that the other market concessionaires also extend their opening hours.
This idea of creating restaurant spaces in traditional markets is already a common practice in other parts of the country, such as Lisbon. In fact, what was done, in the Portuguese capital, at Mercado de Campo de Ourique «was a reference» for this project, confessed David Pimentel.
For now, the work is "at the stage of public procurement" and, if all goes well, "the final report will be issued next week."
"The estimate is to start the work at the end of September, finishing it in four months", said the chairman of the board of directors of the municipal company Loulé Concelho Global.
And how will the normal functioning of the market be during the contract? The space will remain open.
“We had a favorable opinion from the Health and Civil Protection delegate. The works will always take place in containers, properly insulated so as not to cause dust and dust. The removal of debris will always be from 15:00, when the Market is already closed”, explained David Pimentel.
During the Christmas period – December 15th to January 1st – the project will have a break. The works, budgeted at 600 thousand euros, also include the rehabilitation of the bathrooms and the interior and exterior painting of the building.
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