A new project worth 20 million euros, by the Porto-based company Colossalweek, wants to transform Fábrica do Inglês, an iconic space in Silves that has been abandoned, into a 5-star aparthotel, while reopening the Cork Museum.
After the Chamber meeting, the request for prior information to authorize the works was unanimously approved, as revealed, at first hand, by the newspaper Terra Ruiva.
However, despite this favorable opinion from the autarchy, the project's progress is still dependent on several stages. First, Colossalweek has to buy the building from Caixa Geral de Depósitos, which owns the two buildings that exist in Fábrica do Inglês. Negotiations are ongoing.
Second, the group will have to have authorization from the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage, since the existing estate, belonging to the Cork Museum, is in classification process as cultural heritage of public interest.
The project includes the construction of 130 apartments for senior tourism, as well as a SPA, swimming pools and a restaurant.
Colossalweek also does not forget the Cork Museum, an emblematic space linked to the history of Silves, which in 2011 was elected the Best Industrial Museum in Europe. The idea is to reopen it.
In 2014, the Museum's estate, put up for auction by Caixa Geral de Depósitos, was purchased by Grupo Nogueira. Later, it passed into the hands of other companies linked to the same group.
The situation provoked a great challenge on the part of the Silves Chamber, which took the case to court, for not having been informed of this transfer of assets. The outcome, moreover, is not yet known.
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