The Palau Maricel initiates its integral reform respecting the architectural and heritage legacy

The mayor of Sitges, Miquel Forns, presented the project for the integral reform of Palau Maricel this Sunday in the framework of the celebration of the Heritage Days and coinciding with the centenary of Maricel, works that could begin from next December and end in just over a year. The reform works will open the door to the restoration of the pieces of art and the museumization of the building. The ceremony was also attended by the Councilor for Culture, Traditions and Festivals, Rosa Tubau, and the managing director of the Sitges Heritage Consortium, Vinyet Panyella.

The noucentista monumental ensenble will be subject to a rehabilitation intervention of its 2,000 square meters applying a general criterion of conservation and looking for the conceptual and historical unit of all Maricel. The project aims to solve the problems of old age and antiquity that have deteriorated the building for more than 100 years, acting with structural reinforcement, the suppression of architectural barriers, creating circuits for public and services and planning emergency and security situations, among others.

During the ceremony, Forns explained that the reform project "is very respectful of the heritage, but adapting the building to the current needs of the 21st century." "We did not want to repeat the controversy of 2011 in the case of Cau Ferrat, Casa Rocamora and the Maricel Museum. Hopefully on that occasion the two works could be done, both from the sea and from the land. " 
For the Councilor for Culture, Rosa Tubau, the importance of museization "is that it represents one of the cornerstones of its cultural activity and that attracts all those who visit us". Tubau has advanced that the project foresees an exhibition born with the intention of palliating the lack of exhibition spaces in the town.

The director of the museums, Vinyet Panyella, explained that the project, which reaches 3 million euros, has a1-3 million city council grant, which allows starting work now, but also a grant of the Diputació de Barcelona. Panyella also explained that the Museums currently manages the digitization project such as the air conditioning system, as well as the actions on deficiencies and urgencies of the building.