The old Cineteatro Avenida, in Luso, will be rehabilitated and transformed into an Environmental Interpretation Center. The execution project has already been awarded by the Mealhada City Council.
“The old movie theater will give way to the Luso Environmental Interpretation Center, with an aspect strongly marked by environmental intervention for the entire population, especially children and young people, similar to what happens at the Mealhada Environmental Interpretation Center, located in Parque da Cidade”, reads a municipal note, which adds that “the functionality of the building does not end in the Interpretation Center, since António Jorge Franco’s executive defined the creation of a multipurpose space for development for the project of socio-economic, cultural, recreational, educational, environmental, community and sporting activities”.
For now, the “Elaboration of the Execution Project” has been awarded, which calls for the rehabilitation of the building, already very dilapidated, and the entire surrounding outdoor space, including the adjoining stairs that constitute the gateway to the Bussaco National Forest, a candidate for UNESCO World Heritage. “The program’s fundamental objective is to create a space with high aesthetic and environmental quality, with appreciation for the historical context of the existing building and establishing a relationship of total coherence with the surrounding landscape, considering the functional reorganization of the space”, it reads in the project description.
“We believe we have a good project here for the population of the parish of Luso and beyond. If we look at the Mealhada Interpretation Center, we see the thousands of people who pass through that structure, from the municipality, but also from outside, with different activities for children, the elderly or families. The environmental aspect has a perfect framework in Luso and Bussaco”, explains António Jorge Franco, adding, however, that the rehabilitation is designed in such a way that the space is multipurpose, namely to host cultural and sporting activities.
