The Musical and Mercantile Athenaeum has just turned 103 years old. Its headquarters overlooks the fateful Poyo ravine, in the epicenter of Paiportawhose inhabitants know it colloquially as the Granota Casino. Involuntarily, this building has become a whole symbol of the town most affected by the terrible floods that devastated the region of l’Horta Sud and other parts of the province of Valencia on October 29 and left 223 dead and enormous material and economic losses. Its ground floor, which was completely razed, was initially converted into a logistics center, then a food distribution point and later a example of the resurgence of a town hand in hand with solidarity.
The idea came from Happiness JohnCEO of the company Food&Fun. Originally from Paiporta, although she does not live there, she did not hesitate to walk across from Valencia, like thousands of volunteers, when the flood hit her hometown. “It was like a war. I saw how the Casino was, which was where my father met to play cards, and I decided that I wanted to take charge of it,” he says.
We can recover something very positive from a disaster, but we need the torch not to go out
The first thing was to get to work cleaning. Those first days it was necessary to coordinate volunteers, soldiers and neighbors and they began to devise a logistics center to order aid that came from different parts of Spain. At the same time, they activated a soup kitchen to feed those who pitched in to help, as well as the residents of Paiporta themselves who had been left with nothing.
On November 12, Juan signed with the president of the Ateneo and with the firefighters the transfer of facilities to carry out your project. It was then that they received support from World Central Kitchen (WCK) for the soup kitchen. “They supported us and it was the key to all this,” he says. By then it had already become a place “to sit down to eat or have a coffee” in the midst of the devastation. “It was like a symbol of peace and meeting between people,” he explains. A small oasis that evoked lost normality.
The idea began to take shape in this businesswoman’s head that this provisional aid project would take shape as something definitive, as an example of resilience and cooperation that is not limited to restoring the building, but that serves as a boost to the social, economic and cultural fabric of the region.
In this way, the main objectives of the Casino project are the rehabilitation of the historic building, the creation of a community kitchen and dining room that meet immediate needs and encourage the use of local products, and the transformation of the Casino into a global meeting point that can inspire communities around the world as a model of strength and social change.
“My obsession is that this torch does not go out”Juan insists. Until last December 20, the solidarity campaign activated on the Fundació Horta Sud website had raised 1,715 euros. However, they need 200,000, since everything has to be built new, except for the upper floors, which since the flood have been dedicated to accommodation, activities such as yoga and psychological support for children.
We want it to be a place for Paiporta and also an example that can be extrapolated to the world when this happens somewhere else.
The objective is that the works can begin in Januarysince WCK volunteers will be cooking all Christmas. The ultimate goal is for the new Casino to be “a space open to the community, a legacy for the people and with the symbolism of having been at the epicenter of the catastrophe,” adds Juan. But, above all, “let no one forget this,” he concludes.
Entities and professionals, united
Entities and professionals have collaborated to carry out the project. On the one hand, the Horta Sud Foundation is responsible for managing donations and ensuring that the resources are entirely allocated to the Casino. World Central Kitchen provides healthy meals for residents and volunteers. For its part, Acció Solidària i Logística (Aslong) is in charge of removing debris and managing the commissary, supplying food for the affected population. For the transformation of the space, the Casino will rely on the experience of architect Boris Strzelczyk.
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