The Council of Majorca's heritage department is seeking a way to preserve the old power station in Alcanada (Alcudia) and to give it a public use without it representing any environmental risk because of hazardous waste.
Experts in industrial heritage are to come to Majorca to assess the presence of this waste. Endesa, which owns the site, maintains that there is a risk and that this will prevent a conversion into a form of park as set out in the Council of Majorca's land plan.
The possibility of demolishing the power station (which is what Endesa wants to do) first arose last September. The electricity company requested a licence to demolish from Alcudia town hall, despite the power station having town hall listed status. The request was turned down.
The power station was included in the land plan with the intention of turning it into some form of cultural or tourist attraction. In 2006, the Council called for proposals to convert it into a museum of arts and sciences. The winning proposal - named "the clearing in the forest" - would have entailed a cost of 21 million euros. Economic crisis put an end to that idea.
When Maria Salom was president of the Council, it was evident that there was absolutely no intention of reconsidering the museum project. The current Council, and in particular Mercedes Garrido, the councillor for land, is looking to revive the original and simpler plan for a landscaped setting. Any solution would remove outstanding issues to do with safety and also image. There can be few people who think the power station, certainly given its state of abandonment, is anything other than a blot on the landscape.
The Council's heritage department will use the input of the experts to determine if the power station should be declared as being in the cultural interest, a higher level of protection than that which the town hall has given it. The three parties - Council, town hall and Endesa - are due to have a further meeting to consider the way forward.
Although it would prefer to knock the whole thing down, Endesa is willing to agree with the preservation of some parts of the power station which do not pose a risk. The request it made in September was for the total demolition, including the two chimneys.
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