This Monday, Lleida City Council began the renovation works of the Palau de Cristal to improve the energy efficiency and accessibility of the Camps Elisis building built in 1965.
The project foresees a multipurpose ground floor with fair and sports uses and a first floor with a conference room, a space for entities in the Cappont neighborhood and a co-working area.
The work will last a year and will cost six million euros, half of them financed with Next Generation funds.
The works force the Ibn Hazm Muslim community to look for an alternative prayer space. The community has used the building for the last 11 years and in summer has provisionally prayed in pavilion 4 of the Fira de Lleida.
The work over the next three months will focus on the dismantling and removal of carpentry, glass, furniture and installations. Subsequently, the energy reform and rehabilitation project itself will be addressed, aimed at improving the energy efficiency of the building, which is now very low, and other improvements in accessibility, habitability, security and conservation.
The works are expected to be completed at the end of September next year. They have a budget of 6 million euros, of which half is financed by the Program to Promote the Rehabilitation of Public Buildings (Pirep) of the Next Generation funds of the European Union. The rest, 3 million euros, is assumed by Paeria.
The project maintains the characteristic features of the building, while providing it with elements that favor the adaptability of the spaces to the needs of citizens and the reduction of energy consumption, reaching efficiency levels above 60%.
Among the actions contemplated are the modernization of air conditioning systems, the installation of photovoltaic panels and air quality control systems, and the monitoring of water consumption, in addition to the replacement of the electrical installation and LED lighting and comprehensive digitalization of the building. A waste warehouse will also be incorporated and electric chargers for bicycles will be enabled.
The works are also aimed at ensuring the versatility of the space to serve various events and that it adapts over time to the needs of citizens. Fair uses are maintained on the ground floor and sports uses are also planned, while on the first floor there will be a conference room for 200 people, an entity hotel and a co-working area.
The mayor of Lleida, Fèlix Larrosa, has stated that the rehabilitation of the building is a first step to promote the Champs Elysées as “the city’s great park” and for this green lung of Lleida to recover its “essence”.
“The will of the municipal government is to gain more park space, provide facilities for the family public in the modernist chalet and also give uses to the annex buildings, such as the Antorxa. We have a lot of work to do, but we must convert this space into a central park for the people of Lleida,” he explained.
Larrosa has stated that he maintains “permanent conversations” with the Ibn Hazm Muslim community to find a solution to the lack of space to pray. Of course, it has encouraged them to take the initiative to find an adequate “solution” within the urban planning regulations, since, for the moment, the only proposal that they have transferred to the municipal government is the acquisition of a building that is not allowed religious uses.
The largest Muslim community in Lleida, Ibn Hazm, had been using the Palau de Vidre for eleven years, a space that had to leave this September.
