The convened contest includes a “protective cover” so that the temple can once again host religious ceremonies
The Cathedral of Santa María la Mayor de Cartagena will have, in February 2023, a comprehensive recovery project that should allow “the recovery of the religious cult” of the temple, “among other compatible uses”, as explained on Thursday by the deputy mayor, Ana Belén Castejon. Thus, she appears in the call for the contest presented by the mayor at the Town Hall, together with the dean of the College of Architects of the Region of Murcia, María José Peñalver. The conditions will be published before the end of this month on the College website.
“The financing of the works is not in any danger,” assured Castejón, who is counting on the protocol that she herself signed in 2019 as councilor being complied with. In it, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure commits the transfer of two million euros to finance the works “in a multi-year program,” Castejón warned.
The Master Plan provided by the Diocese of Cartagena puts the total cost of recovery at five million. Castejón stressed the importance of having already obtained 40% of the investment and asked for patience to wait to find out which project was chosen and its final cost, before thinking about how to get the rest of the money.
In any case, the deputy mayor stressed that the delay in drawing up the Master Plan, which conditions the entire project and which corresponded to the Bishopric, has so far prevented any attempt to request European funds to complete the investment.
Protective cover
The tender specifications include the fitting out of a “protective cover” for the church which, like the rest of the works, must be “reversible”, according to municipal technicians.
Likewise, the architects who want to present projects for the recovery of the temple must include the “restoration of the façade of the Chapel of Socorro”, and “of the cladding of the structure of the building, such as capitals and cornices”, as well as “the reconstruction of the vaults of the nave of the epistle and, above all, the roof over the previous arches and of the central and Gospel naves».
The “adaptation of the excavation of the main chapel and the north nave for the visit” and the “works to guarantee access from the Roman theater and vice versa through the Beltrí staircase”, Castejón specified, are also among the conditions that the winning project must fulfill.
Interested designers will be able to visit the temple in the last days of this month. The delivery period for their work will end at the end of January and a technical jury will choose the winner before spring arrives, according to Castejón.
The City Council will deliver 16,000 euros to the first classified, who will automatically assume the direction of the restoration plan. “The chosen project will be sent to the Ministry of Transport and we will be waiting for its response,” said the deputy mayor. The rest of the prizes will be 8,000, 4,000 and 2,000 euros respectively for second, third and fourth place.
Castejón’s commitment lasts until February or March, when the chosen project is sent to the Ministry, without any guarantee that there will be a conclusive answer before the municipal elections of May 2023. Regarding the term of works, its definition is part of the work that must be done by the architects who present themselves.
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