A new citizens movement to save what is left of Faro’s old buildings has been established by local architect Filipe Monteiro and 'heritage activist' Fernando Silva Grade.
The first public meeting to discuss the destruction of some of the Algarve’s most notable vernacular buildings will be held on Friday, May 5 under the crystal clear heading 'No to the destruction of what remains of the architectural heritage of Faro.'
The aim is to highlight to locals and Faro council what has been going on in the name of progress, as Faro’s old buildings have been picked off, one by one.
The state of affairs has pitched Faro council against locals who wish to see Faro's old buildings valued for what they are, rather than bulldozed and inappropriate replacements thrown up by avaricious builders with the acceptabe of a complicit council.
The idea is to prevent “the destruction of the relevant architectural heritage that still remains in the city" and also to stop the use of inappropriate materials and techniques when old buildings are renovated - often by overseas buyers who need guidance.
Faro council recently stated that it is to work on a guide for renovators in a long overdue project that will save the city’s buildings from expensive and irreparable mistakes. See 'Faro Council to produce 'best practice' guidelines for historic property restorers'
Such a document has been desperately needed and long expected in neighbouring Olhão but the Urban Management department, still under the iron rule of Ditza Reis as she awaits her court appearance on a €6.5 million construction project scam, has demonstrated zero interest in the city's unique building stock that attracts millions of euros in inward investment in the city each year.
There is no interest at all from the mayor, António Pina, who is intent on using every political trick to force through his city centre modernisation plans that include the removal of ancient calçada cobbles in favour of machine cut paving with a €1 million price tag.
Indeed, in Olhão last month a beautiful and historic building was bulldozed to make way for yet another ‘get rich quick’ hotel unit.
For pictures and a report in Barlavento, in Portuguese, click this link: http://barlavento.pt/opiniao/a-demolicao-do-gremio-olhanense
Faro also has been losing its irreplaceable old buildings in a steady series of council approved executions, "The recent destruction of yet another piece of traditional architecture that was part of the history of the city of Faro greatly outraged a group of citizens," says Fernando Silva Grade, noting the building under construction next to Faro court at the corner of Rua Rector Teixeira Guedes and Rua João de Deus.
Grade says "the problem is not only in the four buildings destroyed for the construction of this property, but particularly in how this sets a precedent for future destruction of heritage properties.”
As a result of the deteriorating situation in Faro, the committee of citizens was set up to organise a series of initiatives to challenge the ongoing urban policy that apparently is preparing to inflict the same grave errors that occurred in the construction boom of the 1980s and 1990s.
There already is a petition running on the internet available (HERE).
The debate takes place at Club Farense, at Rua de Santo António, at 9.30 pm on May 5th with the participation of the notable local architect Filipe Monteiro and the artist and heritage defence activist Fernando Silva Grade.
