Visiting coaches, players and referees who step into the brand new Torroella de Montgrí pavilion, inaugurated in February 2021, in the middle of the pandemic, are amazed by an unusual situation. “Have they made you a pavilion without changing rooms? How is this going?” they ask fans and managers of Bàsquet Club Torroella, one of the entities that uses the facilities. It is also used by a futsal and handball team and the institute.
Four barracks, two for the referees and two for the teams, located outside the building, have performed this function since the construction of a sports facility was completed, which cost the City Council around 1.5 million euros. Mayor Jordi Colomí (UPM) explains that there was no money for everything, so it was first decided to build the pavilion and make some “provisional” changing rooms. The final ones would be carried out in a second phase, which has not yet begun. “The clubs knew it,” he explains.
The locker rooms are still in barracks, and the new ones will not begin construction until shortly before summer
But this provisionality has lasted for a long time, which has raised complaints from players, families and clubs. “The initial idea was that once the work on the pavilion was finished, the changing rooms would begin the following year,” explains the president of the Bàsquet Club Torroella, Joan Manel Frau, who urges “speed” in the completion of a sports infrastructure that will be built to decongest the old pavilion.
The absence of changing rooms and bathrooms in the building itself leaves curious scenes: the vast majority of players do not shower in facilities that are cold in winter. If it rains, the players get wet as they have to walk a few meters from the barracks before taking cover. If there are two simultaneous matches, you will have to wait for the round to change.
The Toroella de Montgrí pavilion, inaugurated in 2021, operates with temporary changing rooms in barracks.
“I shower at home, it’s more comfortable and I’m less cold, visitors also prefer it,” explain Jaume Fuster and Iker Mias, who play in the men’s children’s team. His teammate Simon Falgueras is almost the only one who goes to the shower, but only on match days. During training he also prefers the comfort of home.
They are not careful, however, when they play as a visitor. “There is no situation similar to this,” they acknowledge. In such a soulless space, the time of stay is brief. “The locker room is a place that unites a team, the space where you come together,” explains Anna Masoliver, mother of a female cadet player.
Other anomalies
Problems with light reflection and with the retractable stands, unusable when several games are played simultaneously on the side court
It is not the only anomaly of a piece of equipment that was born with some deficiencies. The retractable stands cannot be opened when several simultaneous games are played on the side court, as they take up half of the parquet. Until recently, in games played in the morning, the audience in the stands had vision problems as the sun shining through the windows dazzled them.
“Sometimes even the referees or players got confused because they couldn’t see the lines well,” explains Arnau Serra, coach. “And the parquet is first class, and the hoops and baskets too,” he acknowledges. This year, large translucent panels have been placed in the large windows to solve the problems of light reflection.
The mayor justifies that the high cost led to carrying out the work in two phases
The public bathrooms deserve special mention. Until a year ago there was only one portable toilet outside, the kind used at fairs or concerts, without electricity or water and not suitable for the disabled. There are now two bathrooms, one of them adapted. “It’s a shame that a new pavilion has so many patches,” Frau complains. “We now have to have a proper facility,” adds Marcos Aladid, councilor in the opposition for Compromís.
The project contemplated by the City Council, governed by Unitat i Progrès Municipal (UPM), ERC and Objectiu Torroella i l’Estartit (OTE), a brand linked to the CUP, foresees the construction of changing rooms, a bar and a welcome space . The works, which will last four or five months, could begin before next summer, according to Colomí.
Investment in the sports area
950,000 euros
The final changing rooms of the new pavilion are not the only ones that remain to be done. The new sports field will also feature new brief locker rooms. The project is in the bidding phase and works would begin after Easter and finish in August. The budget of both vertuaries amounts to around 950,000 euros, according to City Hall sources. Colomí highlights the commitment that the City Council made years ago to double the sports facilities (building a second pavilion and a second sports field) but says that the high investment forced the works to be carried out in two phases, in two mandates. He also claims that municipal debt six years ago was very high, 72%. “We didn’t want to get into more debt,” he explains to justify the temporary nature of the changing rooms.
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