The Porto City Council admits the return of musicians to the Stop shopping center if safety measures are complied with in the period until the end of the licensing of the work, which should extend until October, Rui Moreira revealed today.
In statements after meeting with the two musicians’ associations to whom he first made known the set of proposals, the mayor of Porto informed that a solution had been found after being “heard the regiment of sappers of Porto, which issued an urgent opinion”.
“The regiment commander told us that in order to function as it is today, [the Stop] will have to have a fire engine there permanently, with five operatives, during the time the space is in use”, the mayor began by saying.
During this period, assured Rui Moreira, “an investment will be made in safety means, hoses, needles, all those conditions that exist in other shopping centers and that do not exist there and training will also be given to users of the space so that in case there is a fire they know how to act”.
The proposal also implies rules “on the conditions of use of the shopping center” because it is not possible “to have a fire department there for more than 12 hours” nor to have the “sufficient number of firefighters to be there for 24 hours,” he added.
“If the associations agree, we will have to talk to the condominium administration, because all this has one condition: that the condominium administration accepts these same conditions”, said Rui Moreira, stating that if there is agreement from everyone “they will have the security device working within 24 hours”.
On Tuesday, more than a hundred stores in the Stop shopping center were sealed by the Municipal Police “for lack of licenses to operate”, justified the Porto City Council.
Hundreds of musicians occupied Rua do Heroísmo for about five hours in protest, forcing police to divert car traffic to other arteries of the city.
The Stop shopping center has been operating for more than 20 years as a cultural space and several fractions of its floors are used as rehearsal rooms or studios by various artists.
At a press conference on Wednesday, the mayor of Porto assured that he will not authorize the construction of “any hotel” on the site of the shopping center and that the purchase of the building by the municipality is not viable.
“I don’t know of any real estate interest and I can tell you one thing, the Porto City Council does not authorize the construction of any hotel there, if that is the case. (…) The story that what we want is to gentrify that seems to us an absurd story”, replied Rui Moreira when confronted with accusations of alleged real estate interests being at the origin of the sealing of the stores.
The Porto City Council presented two alternatives for the musicians’ relocation, namely the Pires de Lima school and the last floors of the Silo Auto.
Associations of musicians of Stop admit as “good” proposal of the Chamber of Porto
The representatives of the two musicians’ associations received with caution the proposals of the Porto City Council for the reopening of the Stop shopping center, but admitting that, in the short term, it will be a good solution.
The Porto City Council today proposed the return of the musicians to the Stop shopping center on condition of compliance with safety measures in the period until the end of the licensing of the work, which should extend until October.
The proposal made by the municipality includes the presence of a team of sapper firefighters at the door of the Stop during the 12 hours a day in which it can operate, seven days a week, plus safety training actions.
Bruno Costa, from the Alma Stop association, thanked the proposal and stressed that “it still has to be analyzed carefully” and that they will “listen to everyone”.
“This solves a lot of problems, we talk about the security of the building (…) but having said that one of the things we will have to discuss is the schedule because none of us, obviously, wants to go against the noise law (…) but it is important to talk about things like loading and unloading because most of the performances are at night and, for that reason, things have to be taken to the venue at the end of the concerts”, described the musician.
Bruno Costa also assured that the demonstration scheduled for Monday afternoon remains because it is necessary “to show how important the shopping center is for local, national and international culture given the number of artists who give concerts out there who have record contracts with publishers out there”.
Regarding the School option, Pires de Lima expressed the need to ascertain the “conditions and space”, admitting that it could “work simultaneously with the Stop”.
“Our priority is the Stop (…) which is an emblematic place. We will discuss all this in depth today,” he said, expressing the “hope and conviction” that they will be able to return to the shopping center.
Rui Guerra, from the Associação Cultural de Músicos do Stop, also emphasized the need to listen to everyone before making a decision.
“This would be a good short-term solution. Many of us are at a standstill due to lack of conditions to have the material, and this situation allows us to reopen the rooms and start working again soon,” he admitted.
On the issue of timetables, he argued that “it is not ideal, but it is not bad” and ended by revealing that “the solutions communicated today were basically those requested by the two associations at Thursday’s meeting [with Porto City Council].
On Tuesday, more than a hundred stores in the Stop shopping center were sealed by the Municipal Police “for lack of licenses to operate”, justified the Porto City Council.
Hundreds of musicians occupied Rua do Heroísmo for about five hours in protest, forcing police to divert car traffic to other arteries of the city.
The Stop shopping center has been operating for more than 20 years as a cultural space and several fractions of its floors are used as rehearsal rooms or studios by various artists.
At a press conference on Wednesday, the mayor of Porto assured that he will not authorize the construction of “any hotel” on the site of the shopping center and that the purchase of the building by the municipality is not viable.
“I don’t know of any real estate interest and I can tell you one thing, the Porto City Council does not authorize the construction of any hotel there, if that is the case. (…) The story that what we want is to gentrify that seems to us an absurd story”, replied Rui Moreira when confronted with accusations of alleged real estate interests being at the origin of the sealing of the stores.
Porto City Council presented two alternatives for the musicians’ relocation, namely the Pires de Lima school and the last floors of Silo Auto.
