Olhão’s main seafront road, waterfront area to the south of the twin markets and one of its much cherished parks are to be ‘refurbished’ at a cost of €1.5 million.
Polis Litoral Ria Formosa’s board meeting agreed the work in Avenida 5 de Outubro, Jardim Patrão Joaquim Lopes and Jardim Pescador Olhanense along the Olhão waterfront and is expected to start this extensive and controversial redevelopment "by the end of October."
According to mayor António Pina, who also sits on the board of Polis, the building work details will be presented to the public on February 23rd at 6 pm in the Municipal Library of Olhão and consist of a redesign, renovation and changing the main through road into a one way.
The redesign of this "wonderful space in front of the Ria Formosa" is estimated at around €1.5 million in two stages. The first relates to the redesign of the main seafront road, the next to the ‘requalification’ of the gardens that border the Olhão Markets. Each stage will cost €750,000.
This work is the result of the last meeting of the Board of Directors of the Polis Litoral Ria Formosa Society, which led to an allocation of around €6.5 million from the company’s bulging deposit account to projects in Olhão, Faro, Tavira and Loulé.
"The work consist of modernising the gardens, which will continue to respect the traditional image but at the same time, bring quality," says António Pina.
"We want the gardens to adapt to the current uses, since they are areas where families take the opportunity to socialise and play with their younger ones," waffled the mayor, who guarantees that the work is ready to start as all permissions already have been awarded by the council to the council.
The mayor is taking an electoral risk by changing the 1960s Jardim Patrão Joaquim Lopes, held dear by generations of Olhão locals. He also risks affecting the flow of products to the two markets by restricting the traffic flow, to and from the area.
It is not certain if the launch to the public of these extensive plans is the start of a public consultation period, or whether this nicety will be ignored, as are so many council processes involving Olhão residents. The mayor has stated that the developments "will go ahead in March," leaving no time for public input.
Mayor Pina is still reeling from the international uproar caused when his 'historic centre redevelopment' plans were universally dismissed as being inappropriate and damaging to the city centre, including the ridicule caused by the proposed construction of a modern viewing tower that became a focal point of the campaign to topple Pina's Erection, as it was dubbed.
The city centre campaign was mounted and supported by foreigners and Portuguese alike. The messing with an historic garden area leaves the mayor open to vociferous complaint from locals whose memories are to be uprooted.
The launch of this new project and lack of consultation period may not endear the mayor to his electorate.
