Torrevieja’s Municipal Theatre is still closed with Mayor Eduardo Dolón still preferring not to specify when it will reopen its doors.
However, now that he has in his possession the report recently completed by municipal technicians, detailing the cost of the repair and adaptation of its facilities, after four years of closure, he is in a far better position to make the necessary decision, and in so doing fulfil one of the main promises that he made in his recent municipal election manifesto.
The report, which was released last Monday, is understood to say that the Theatre needs 80,000 euros in repairs and renovation of material and facilities to reopen.
The previous government team said that it had already carried out the necessary repairs to reopen and guarantee safety and security – it invested about 40,000 euros; and that the only thing that prevented the reopening was the signature of the architect, which it was still necessary to obtain for the opening license: the Generalitat closed the theatre in September 2015 because it lacked that endorsement.
But now Mayor Eduardo Dolón (PP) was able to explain the conclusions of the new report which was commissioned by the councillor for Culture and which is said to identify the need for additional works at a cost of 80,000 euros before it can reopen.
It would have been much more, he said but fortunately, during the period in which the Theatre remained closed, the maintenance of elevators, effluent pumps and fire extinguishers was maintained, but not that of scenic machinery, air conditioners, security systems, electrical systems and plumbing.
He stated that he does not know how quickly these outstanding works can be carried out, although they will be processed as a matter of urgency. He said that most of them can be done through minor contracts – a simple procedure that does not require a formal tendering process for works under 15,000 euro.
But even when completed the building will still be pending a completion signature for the end of work by the architect Antonio Marquerie, who was hired by Acciona, and who highlights that the building costs overran the original budget of less than six million to a final total of nine million.
He refuses to sign and says that he will not do so until he receives the balance of his fee – some 140,000 euros – that he considers he is still owed by the City Council, althoughcouncil says that the remuneration obligation is from the contracting company Acciona.
The mayor, however, did not specify how City Council is responding to the legal claim of the architect for his outstanding fees, recalling that the legal services are still investigating the demand.
