Benidorm obtains a grant of more than 200,000 euros from Alicante Provincial Council for l'Hort de Colón

Benidorm City Council has obtained a grant of more than 200,000 euros from the Provincial Council of Alicante to work in l'Hort de Colón and thus recover full use of this emblematic property located in the heart of the city. This was announced today by the mayor, Toni Pérez; and the Provincial Deputy for Architecture, José Ramón González de Zárate; in a press conference, and they were accompanied by Rafael Pérez, director of this area in the Provincial Council.

This grant, González de Zárate detailed, is part of the Provincial Plan for the rehabilitation and enhancement of the municipal historical architectural heritage of towns with less than 75,000 inhabitants, to which Benidorm participated with l'Hort de Colón, valued at 295,958.85 euros. According to the bases of this call, Benidorm has received a grant equivalent to 70% of the cost of the project, 206,471.20 euros.

The mayor applauded the purpose of this call and was "very happy" because "the plan has allowed" this project to work "on the structure of l'Hort de Colón"; a hundred-year-old house built at the end of the 19th century that "is wonderful", that "we want to show to the rest of the world" and that "needed works urgently on its first floor to enjoy total security".

The project contributed by the City Council and supported by the Provincial Council plans to work on the first floor of the building, renovate the bathroom on the ground floor, fix the façade, eliminate possible humidity, and replace the glass skylight of the house, and the electrical mechanisms. , switches, and sockets.

The most important action is focused on the floor, where the wooden joists are going to be replaced by new ones made of the same material. In addition, as Toni Pérez has transferred, in this project "the aesthetics will be taken care of to the maximum" and carrying out "a surgical job" in regards to the pavement, since most of it will be lifted and recovered, which that requires manual work that, although it is more expensive, guarantees to reuse the original ceramic floor.

As explained by González de Zárate, once the subsidy has been obtained, which will be officially approved in the plenary session of the Provincial Council on April 5, the Benidorm City Council will be in a position to start the bidding process for these works. The provincial deputy has clarified that in the case of Benidorm, the bidding process and start of work will go faster than in other municipalities since the city "does not have to request authorization from the Ministry" to carry out this project.

The mayor assured that "we look forward to the start of the work" and that "soon we will be able to make l'Hort de Colón available to the public", thus recovering cultural activities that had to be put on hold due to a technical recommendation not to use the spaces and rooms on the upper floor, such as dramatized visits or micro theater cycles.

At this point, Toni Pérez recalled that with the incorporation of l'Hort de Colón into the municipal heritage, this enclave became a reference cultural space, especially from "the pedestrianization of Tomás Ortuño street", which made " this asset more accessible to citizens, transforming and multiplying its activity”.

Since then, l'Hort has hosted countless artistic and recreational activities such as concerts, theater festivals, children's workshops, and exhibitions. Most of the activities have continued to be carried out without any problem in the garden although those that required the use of the entire house were put on hold.

Investment of the Provincial Plan in the Marina Baixa

l'Hort de Colón is one of the six works that Alicante Provincial Council is going to subsidize in the Marina Baixa region within the second call for the Provincial Plan for the rehabilitation and enhancement of the municipal historical architectural heritage towns with fewer than 75,000 rooms. A plan managed directly by the Architecture area and which in this call will allocate 9 million euros to projects in 30 municipalities.

In the case of Marina Baixa, the global investment will be 1,964,956.52 euros.

As reported by González de Zárate, this call will address the access and restoration of  Alcozaiba castle and the bell tower of the Castell de Guadalest (497,229.97 euros that will be fully financed by the Provincial Council); and the protection and tourist and heritage enhancement of Sector V of the Villa Romana de L'Albir (90% subsidized with 217,800.00 euros).

The highest amount, 493,374.14 euros, will go to the rehabilitation of a building on Mayor de Orxeta street, which will be used as a sociocultural center. Also important is the investment for the protection by covering the site of the Roman Baths of La Vila Joiosa, 400,000 euros, 80% of the cost of the action. Finally, 150,081.21 euros will arrive in Polop, where archaeological excavation works, consolidation, and the castle wall will be carried out.