The mayor of Torrevieja was pictured on Monday placing posters on the doors of the Municipal Theatre explaining the reasons why, despite all of the remedial work being satisfactorily completed, at a cost of over 40,000 euros, the building cannot be re-opened.
The City Council now says that it reserves the right to open criminal proceedings against the architect, Antonio Marquerie, if he does not sign off the necessary permissions to allow the theatre, which was closed by the Generalitat in 2015 on safety ground, to reopen as a matter of urgency.
The main reason for the closure at the time, were a number of issues surrounding health and safety, but now, two years later, and with all of the works satisfactorily completed all that is stopping it opening its doors to the public once again is the lack of an opening license.
At the time that the theatre was completed on 2006 the architect only initialled an authorisation of “occupation” of the building and not the formal completion of work documentation. Until 2012, there was no formal opening license required for municipal buildings, where members of the public gathered, but that all changed after the Madrid Arena crash.
The contract to build the theatre was awarded to Acciona for almost six million euros. The final cost, however, reached almost ten million, 4 million euros more than was originally tendered. It was opened by the then president of the Generalitat, Francisco Camps.
Mayor Jose Manuel Dolon (Los Verdes) said he is seeking advice from the College of Architects.
