Twenty years after its demolition, the old Atlante cinema theater, which brought so much trouble to the residents of La Orotava at the time, will become a cultural space that will house the Municipal Archives, a conference room, another for exhibitions and one for study, along with other complementary auxiliary spaces.
Gone was the controversial demolition and the image of hundreds of residents camped out in front of the property’s façade to prevent the excavator from the Pejomar company, then owner of the site, from entering and committing a crime against historical heritage. Despite the fact that they could not prevent it, they did succeed in preventing the projected ten-story building with 50 homes, 300 parking spaces and commercial premises from being built there. The Atlantean Movement also arose, which fought for the plot to become municipal property and be recovered for public use.
Two decades later, this objective was achieved and what at the time was not a priority for the CC Government, apparently it is today. The mayor of La Orotava, Francisco Linares, presented yesterday the preliminary project prepared by the public company Gesplan, which will be exposed in the next few days at the City Hall and can also be consulted through the municipal website so that residents can contribute their suggestions and undergo a citizen participation process.
Likewise, it has been made known to all the groups of the municipal Corporation, “and it has surprised them”, according to the president, because it respects the environment, is functional and has a contemporary design that combines with traditional elements of the patrimonial history of the city. Villa, such as wood, which is especially important in the design of the windows, in which an assembly of pieces of this material will help control direct light.
Accompanied by the Councilor for Planning and Land Management, Narciso Pérez, and a Gesplan representative, Francisco Linares recalled two key moments in the process initiated after the demolition so that the City Council could acquire the plot.
The first of these was the approval in 2009 of the Special Plan for the Historical Complex, which classified the site as an endowment space with socio-cultural use by agreement of all political parties and social groups. The second took place in 2018, when the City Council acquired ownership of the land for an amount of 709,000 euros, prior agreement with the legal administrator of the Pejomar company.
In the current mandate, despite the extraordinary circumstances generated by the pandemic, the government group opted, according to Linares, to start planning the future of this plot located in an important enclave of the historic complex of La Orotava.
Thus, the future Atlante cultural space sits on some 2,377.23 square meters, of which almost half are destined for a large free space adjoining the rear of the houses on Nicandro González Borges street. This free space will become a garden area, which will serve as a complement to the cultural activity, being equipped with a small stage and stands for holding recreational-cultural events in the open air.
This façade is different from the one that faces Juan Padrón street, with traditional houses of the historical complex, and, therefore, its design will respect the traditional proportions.
