Loulé council has become even more voter friendly by announcing that the much despised Largo de S. Francisco will be “given back to the people,” and it is not even an election year.
The current structure of a pathway over some water was installed about ten years ago and the council admits that “it did not work" and is now is to be changed to something more in keeping with the historic nature of the city centre.
The removal of the wooden walkway and the scrapping of the litter filled pond will create a large space for locals and visitors to use, rather than to marvel at. An additional 300m2 has been earmarked for leisure purposes rather than the current architectural pretention.
The water is a popular feature and will stay on, but as pavement level fountains where urchins can laugh and play in the sunshine, allowing them “direct contact with water” according to a council notice sent out today.
The connection to the calçada paved shopping street, Rua das Lojas, will be enhanced with benches in the shade of trees so people can look at the water while resting from their pusuit of elusive retail happiness.
The €150,000 renovation works will take around months and will be completed by the start of the Festa da Mãe Soberana on April 5th, 2015.
The Loulé mayor said the people of the city rather liked the square and wanted the current mess removed and something useable installed for all to enjoy.
"It was a space where it was not easy to move around and it was not pleasant to use, especially at the Rua das Lojas end," said Vítor Aleixo with his antennae well attuned to local sentiment.
"This is a small project to change existing structures. Basically the idea is to remove all the obstacles that currently stop people using the square as a walking, talking and meeting place.”
The work is in response to citizens who, for years, have been waiting for a remodelling of this square."
The mayor said that after this contract work will start on Rua Serpa Pinto and the adjacent roads whose appearance and surfaces are badly in need of some electoral renovations.
