The two associations of musicians from Stop accepted today the proposal of the Porto City Council to return to the space closed since July 18.
“Both associations operating in the CC [Shopping Center] Stop hereby express their agreement, accepting the conditions approved by the condominium administrator”, says a letter sent today by the associations to the Porto City Council, to which Lusa had access.
Contacted by Lusa, the president of Alma Stop, Bruno Costa, confirmed that the two associations met on Tuesday night and that today they sent the note of agreement to the chamber.
In written statements to Lusa, Bruno Costa said they decided to accept the conditions of the chamber, in order to return immediately to the rooms and stores. “We are urgent to return and we have not given up our home and work,” he said.
In the document, signed by the president of Alma and the secretary of the general assembly of the Stop musicians’ cultural association, they request the reopening of the Stop CC as soon as possible, given the urgency of the situation.
The Porto City Council has referred further clarification to press statements to be made at 12:30 in the Paços do Concelho.
More than a hundred stores in the Stop shopping center were sealed on July 18 by the Municipal Police for “lack of licenses to operate”.
Three days later, the mayor, Rui Moreira, admitted that the space could reopen as long as safety measures were met, namely having a fire engine permanently, with five operators, but not more than 12 hours.
On July 24, the administrator of the Stop condominium, Ferreira da Silva, signed the agreement with the municipality that commits the administration to “adopt and enforce safety behaviors and self-protection and fire risk mitigation measures”.
As an alternative to the shopping center, the chamber presented as solutions the Pires de Lima school or the last floors of the Silo Auto.
The Stop shopping center has been operating for more than 20 years as a cultural space and several fractions of its floors are used as rehearsal rooms or studios by various artists.
