Viana do Castelo approves requalification projects for two schools for 17.6ME

The Viana do Castelo City Council unanimously approved today the requalification projects for two basic schools in the municipality, involving an investment of more than 17.6 million euros.

The decision was taken at an extraordinary meeting of the executive, in which the president of the Chamber, Luís Nobre, justified the proposal with the need for speed in the presentation of applications for the two interventions to guarantee financing from community funds.

“Funding will be allocated in the order in which applications are received. The faster they submit our applications, the more likely we will be to have funding secured”, explained the socialist mayor.

The project to expand and modernize the Abelheira basic school, built in 1990 and which has more than 600 students, was welcomed by the entire opposition in the municipal executive.

Requested for years by parents and guardians, the project, budgeted at 12,338,974.12 million euros, plus VAT, foresees “increasing the school’s capacity from 24 to 28 classes, better physical conditions of the spaces for students with multi-disability, accessibility, improvement of energy efficiency, fire safety and general conditions of the building in the teaching component”.

“It’s almost a new school that will appear,” said the mayor.

The rehabilitation and modernization of the Pedro Barbosa basic school foresees an investment of 5,302,245.00 million euros, plus VAT.

The project approved today has “a special focus on energy efficiency, fire safety and improvement of the general conditions of the building in the teaching component”.
The basic school, built in the 90s, has 4,595.75 gross square meters (m2) of construction, with 4,312.30 m2 of the main building, 108.50 m2 of covered outdoor area and 174.95 m2 occupied by the changing rooms.

The school grounds have a total area of ​​14,159.60 m2. The school currently serves a school community of around 580 people, including 488 students, 78 teachers and 24 staff.

Luís Nobre added that the municipality has identified interventions in other educational establishments, but said that the two projects approved today “are priorities”.