“The location found is the former military recruitment center on Avenida de Berna,” said Diogo Moura, Lisbon City Council’s Culture Councilor (CDS-PP), referring to a space designated for the Music Amateurs Academy, which is required to vacate its current Chiado premises.
Moura spoke at the Lisbon City Council Assembly meeting in response to inquiries from the PCP and BE regarding a solution for the Music Amateurs Academy (AAM), a nonprofit cultural association that protested today at Praça do Município to demand new facilities in the city, marking the institution’s 141st anniversary.
Regarding the proposed solution, the Culture Councilor mentioned that the primary concern is now “the rent value” of the property, owned by Estamo, a public company managing and enhancing public real estate.
In this context, the Lisbon City Council is negotiating with the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Finance to understand how the rent can be reduced to a level that is viable for the AAM.
“A meeting with Estamo is scheduled next week specifically about this location,” Diogo Moura added, noting that the Academy has already visited the site.
The announcement of this new solution followed a meeting between the association’s leadership and the city’s mayor, Carlos Moedas (PSD), which took place today at Paços do Concelho, after a proposal to accommodate the AAM in a building on Rua Vítor Cordon, Chiado, was rejected.
“I believe we are on the right path once again to find a permanent solution to keep the Academy, naturally, in the city of Lisbon, which is the logical outcome,” the Culture Councilor stated.
At the end of February, PCP Councilor João Ferreira described it as “unbelievable” that the government, through Estamo, demanded “7,000 euros monthly” for renting a space, referring to a building that was once the Military Recruitment Directorate of Lisbon, later used by the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences at the University of Lisbon, and currently owned by the public company.
Regarding Estamo’s property, the mayor expressed that the requested rent amount “is unacceptable,” revealing that Culture Minister Dalila Rodrigues will assist in ensuring that this is not the amount charged.
“We will find a solution, but it has not been easy because we want the Academy to remain in the city center,” Carlos Moedas stated at the end of February during a public council meeting.
With a 140-year history, the AAM must leave its current Chiado location “by the end of August this year” due to the inability to pay the new rent, which increased from 542 euros to 3,728, threatening the music education of 320 students and the jobs of 40 teachers.
