The Motorhome Years: 10 years an eyesore....

The unfinished building dominated the Pilar skyline for 10 years

The building of a cultural centre and theatre was started in Pilar in 2004, but was never finished.
Arguments with the local council and the then mayor over funding meant that building stopped in 2006 and, after a change in local government, was never started again. The original budget to complete the building was €2.4 million. It actually cost €4 million to get it to the state it is in today (not finished), and an estimated €8 million would be needed to finish the project.
The incoming council were against the building from the start, so when they came to power they washed their hands of it and left it as a half-finished eyesore for the next 8 years. Constant infighting and wrangling within the council made no difference - no-one was willing to take responsibility for it.
The building has a skeleton of angled steel girders which are beginning to rust. The original plan was to clad the structure with aluminium sheets, but this was never completed.
Things came to a head last month when some aluminium panels were blown off in the high winds (luckily no-one was injured) so once the building became a danger some action was required sooner rather than later. It had started to look like what it is - a half-finished building which is becoming dangerous and unsafe.
Finally, at last, in Feb 2014, we witnessed some action.The problem of the tall tower (called La Paloma or The Dove) is being addressed. The top 4 floors of the tower are being removed at a cost of €64,000 and they hope to sell the scrap metal for €20,000. The rest of the tower is going to be renovated and eventually will finally be open for its intended purpose.

Poised for action

An enormous mobile crane was on site (having been built by a smaller mobile crane!) to lift the sections off the tower. The steel girders were first burnt through with an oxy-acetylene torch, then lifted off onto the adjacent car-park.