The fall of rubble from the facade of the Mercat Maignon building on Carrer de la Pietat in Badalona has once again reopened the debate on the state of the property and the need to promote the total reform, as anticipated in 2011. The great This commercial space has been closed for 12 years and since then the stallholders have been located in a tent in the Plaza de Les Puntaires. The state of degradation of the building generates numerous and constant criticisms from the neighbors.
As reported by the digital Tot Badalona, ??the fall of rubble from the building’s façade onto public roads forced the intervention of the firefighters and security services on Sunday, who cordoned off the area. The same sources point out that the firefighters have warned the City Council that the building is in a dilapidated state and that it presents serious security deficiencies.
The mayor, Xavier García Albiol, who went to the market this Monday accompanied by the municipal technical services, has commissioned a protection network for the façade after signing “an emergency decree”. The popular regretted the incident and promised that during this mandate “there will be a new market.”
The degradation of the building, according to Albiol, is a consequence of the paralysis of the reform project by previous governments, despite the fact that in 2011 “we approved an agreement in plenary with the votes of CiU and IC” he points out, although he qualifies that “with the votes against the PSC”. The forecast was to start the obas in 2015, the year in which a PSC-ERC-IC pact gave the mayoralty to Dolors Sabater, from Guanyem. “Since 2015, I am not aware that anything has been done in the building,” says the current mayor.
The first comprehensive remodeling project for the building, drawn up in 2011, expected to be able to complete the works in 2015, complying with the historic neighborhood demand. There was a contribution of about four million euros from the state company Mercasa, of the six that the reform cost and that, according to the current mayor, “had even deposited a deposit to be able to promote the project.” Now, next September, the mayor has announced that “we will commission the new project”
According to what La Vanguardia published eight years ago, the project for the new Mercat Maignon contemplated the comprehensive remodeling of the interior of the building, maintaining the current number of stops and creating a second floor for leisure and restaurants to attract more customers. New accesses to the equipment would be created and some of the stops will be opened to the street, which would increase the building’s luminosity and spaciousness.
This project, according to Albiol, has become outdated and it is necessary to develop a new one prioritizing “economic viability” so that other alternatives can be considered, such as spaces for tastings or restaurants. For the popular, the remodeling of the market is a priority for his government and he has been collecting ideas for some time, “I will travel to Murcia to take ideas from his market that I like a lot” he admits, always with the premise of “satisfying the local commercial offer”.
Another consequence of the degradation of the building and the report prepared by the fire brigade is that the Micaco de los Castellers group, which used the large interior space of the Mercat Maignon for their rehearsals, will not be able to continue with it, so the uncertain future about a new location. In this sense, the mayor has thanked the predisposition of the group and has commissioned the search for a new location for the rehearsals.
