The Maricel Palace will be subject to major structural reform and conditioning for exhibitions
A structural reform operation will improve the spaces of Maricel Palacel, will make them more accessible and adapt a part as a stage for first-class art exhibitions. The Plenary Session of the City Council of Sitges approved last week granted a contribution of 650,000 euros for the structural reform of the Palau, which add up to the 500,000 alllocation already agreed by the Barcelona Provincial Government. The allocation forms part of the 5.5 million euros from the surplus (that is, savings in spending), which the City Council agreed, unanimously by the Plenary Session, to allocate to various local investments and projects.
The project is entitled Integral reform, rehabilitation, restoration and museisation of the Maricel Palace (1913-17) to adapt it as a center for activities and temporary exhibitions of Museums of Sitges, and has been developed by the Heritage Consortium of Sitges, with the support of the City Council. The project details an investment in the building to make it fully operational for its cultural mission, which consists in the repair of structural problems; The restoration of the patrimonial elements; The rehabilitation of the façade and the roofs; The redefinition of tickets and of circulations. The suppression of architectonic barriers by means of the installation of mechanical elevators, and the museographic adequacy of the building for the visit, so that it allows the organization of medium format exhibitions.
The initiative foresees that the building becomes versatile enough so that Sitges Heritage Consortium, which is the body that manages it, can obtain usefulness and performance, both as an exhibition hall and a patrimonial building open to guided tours , In addition to host institutional events and weddings or, if applicable, rent some of the rooms for celebrations and business meetings.
The reform has the mission of recovering the same essence that the building had when it was built, now a hundred years ago; In other words, to host works of art - through an ambitious program of temporary exhibitions of an international nature -, to be the scene of institutional events and of general interest, to welcome cultural visits and to adapt their rooms to the rental of spaces The sum and combination of these elements guarantees the total use of the building.
The works are planned to start in 2017. The first phase will consist in the sanitation of the terraces and repair of the drippers. Next (in the last quarter of this 2017) the bridge structure that joins Maricel de Mar (the Museum) and Maricel de Terra (the Palace) will be studied , while in parallel at the same time there will be emergency interventions on the facades, cornices and bridge. During the 2018 the central part of the project will be executed.
The renovation and adaptation of Palau de Maricel will guarantee the continuity and use of the building, will improve its performance, will give Sitges a space to host quality exhibitions (without having to empty the Maricel Museum, as was done for Ramon Casas) and, at the same time, will allow to celebrate its centenary with full conditions and projection.