The fifteen workers of the Agustín de la Hoz House of Culture were evicted this Wednesday after the first deputy mayor of the Arrecife City Council, Nuria Cabrera, signed this past Tuesday at a quarter to three in the afternoon a decree ordering the closure of the building once the capital's mayoress, María Isabel Déniz, communicated to the councilor the existing concern among the workers.
Although in principle a technical report does not reflect any danger of imminent ruin, the capital's Consistory did not want to take risks and is already working on the new provisional location of the Festivities, Education and Culture areas.
In principle, the part of the House of Culture that most needs to be rehabilitated is the back, an area that serves as storage and is not usually occupied by staff.
This area has already been propped up, pending a report recommended by the technicians and which has had to be commissioned to a company from the Peninsula to detail the state of materials such as wood, mud or masonry of the building.
On September 8, 2004, the Arrecife City Council requested a subsidy from the Ministry of Infrastructure, Transport and Housing of the Canary Islands Government to carry out the rehabilitation of the House of Culture, whose project is in the Consistory itself. Therefore, the City Council emphasizes that the building is not in imminent ruin.
Nuria Cabrera and the councilor responsible for Human Resources, José Antonio Santana, met this Wednesday morning with the workers of the Agustín de la Hoz House of Culture to explain the possible alternatives in the relocation of the different areas now without headquarters.
While Education will move to offices enabled in the Industrial Estate of Altavista II and Festivities will move next Monday to the back of the fairgrounds of Arrecife, Culture is the area that presents more problems.
"People identify culture in Arrecife with this central part, and it is one of the councilorships that had the most activities already scheduled," explained Nuria Cabrera.
According to the first deputy mayor of the Arrecife City Council, so far three possibilities are being considered: the Castle of San Gabriel, where the light would have to be conditioned; the headquarters of the Historical Archive of Arrecife -for which it would be necessary to consult with the builders of the building-; and even the option of renting some central facilities on a provisional basis is not ruled out.