The mayor of Badalona, Xavier Garcia Albiol, announced yesterday to the neighbors that at the beginning of next July the demolition of the old Mobba factory will begin, thus fulfilling a demand that the neighbors have been demanding for years. With the beginning of the demolition of the old factory, located on Sant Isidre street, in the Center neighborhood, the inconvenience caused by the degradation of the property will end and will lead to the creation of a new green square that will allow the area to be expanded.
Albiol explained that the works to demolish the Mobba are expected to last five months and that before the end of this year the preliminary project for the new square will be presented, as well as the urbanization of the surrounding area, both in consensus with the neighborhood.
The mayor showed his satisfaction after the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSCJ) definitively agreed with the City Council, with a firm ruling that allows the building to be demolished and, according to Albiol, leave behind the obstacles that had been put in place since some political formations.
The mayor pointed out that “the demolition of the Mobba, and the urbanization of the surrounding streets will allow Badalona to leave behind a past of degradation and inconvenience and have a new space that will improve the quality of life of the residents of the area. and will give a boost to the renewal of the image of the city’s façade.”
The square will be a leisure space that will have a large green area and children’s activities. With the disappearance of the Mobba, the neighbors will also achieve another of their demands, improving parking, since as neighborhood sources have confirmed, a preferential green area will be enabled for residents, who will have to pay about two euros per week.
The demolition will be total and will affect the two existing buildings of the old factory site. One of the buildings is located on the corner of Colón and Sant Isidre streets, and the second of the buildings, taller, on Dos de Maig street, facing Sant Isidre and Eduard Maristany streets. Both are in a serious state of deterioration.
The works are scheduled to last five months and will eliminate a 6,011 m2 built roof. Technically, one of the first actions to be addressed will be the removal of the roofs of buildings where there are asbestos-containing fiber cement boards that must be eliminated following established protocols.
The entry of the machines will be possible after the Official Gazette of the Province of Barcelona (BOPB) published on May 9 the “Project to demolish the municipal buildings of the old MOBBA factory”, the last mandatory requirement to start the works. . On February 27, the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) had already rejected the last appeal filed by the group in favor of maintaining part of the buildings and avoiding the complete demolition of the premises.
In 2014, the Badalona City Council expropriated what had been the old Mobba factory, dedicated to the manufacture of scales and balances. So this space was already classified as a green zone, with the aim of demolishing the factory and building a park that, as the mayor promised at the neighborhood meeting, will be completed before the end of the mandate.