Toledo.- The delegate of the Government of Spain in Castilla-La Mancha, Milagros Tolón, presented today at a press conference the project of integral rehabilitation of the building of the Delegation of the Government in Castilla-La Mancha, located in the Plaza de Zocodover, in Toledo, whose works will begin in the coming weeks. “An action of the State Mercantile Society of Real Estate Management of Heritage, on behalf of the Ministry of Territorial Policy”.
The architects Jesús Martín del Vas and Marina Alonso Aguirre are in charge of the drafting of the project, whose works were awarded on April 15 to the UTE Rogasa-Rehacsa for an amount of 9.7 million euros.
Built in the 40s of the last century
Milagros Tolón stressed that this is “an action of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan financed by the European Union with the Next Generation funds, within the strategy of improving energy efficiency in public buildings. The building of the Delegation of the Government in Castilla-La Mancha (former Civil Government of Toledo) was built in the forties of the last century and has not had general reforms of importance since then.”
The delegate of the Government pointed out that “the integral reform of the property is necessary due to the widespread obsolescence of its facilities, the updating of the fire protection regulations and the lack of functionality of its spaces. Since Roman times, interventions throughout the city’s history have been documented in this place. During the Civil War, with the war front in the same square of Zocodover, the building was completely destroyed.”
It was in the 40s of the last century that “the General Directorate of Devastated Regions undertook the construction on this site of the Civil Government of Toledo, work of the architects Arístides Fernández Vallespín and Francisco Moreno López, which is the building we know today and which is based, in turn, on the sixteenth century project of Juan de Herrera”.
As Milagros Tolón said, “after 80 years of activity, the building has a series of deficiencies with regard to the distribution of spaces, energy efficiency, security, functionality, accessibility, humidity, air conditioning, electricity, plumbing, sanitation, communications and other services, which are quite obsolete. And the financing offered by the Recovery Plan of the Government of Spain for the improvement of buildings is an opportunity that the Ministry of Territorial Policy has been able to take advantage of to carry out the necessary adaptation of this important property.”
Façades and current height are maintained
Among the important details, Milagros Tolón stressed that “the project that we present today contemplates the integral rehabilitation of the existing building, maintaining the facades, the current height and the unique elements that define the whole. I insist on this point: the facade is fully respected, with its balcony, which will be restored, as well as the roofs, for greater protection and conservation of its patrimonial value.”
With this premise, “the interior demolition of the existing structure is proposed, providing the property with a new distribution through a central patio. The new structure will allow better use of natural light for jobs and public attention.”
On the other hand, “on the lower floor the archaeological excavations carried out previously will be completed. These surveys resulted in the appearance of vestiges of Roman times and remnants of the Islamic wall that currently bear part of the building’s burden. This project will release these charges and integrate the remains into the whole so that they can be valued and visited without disrupting the administrative use of the building.”
Blood Arch Restoration
The delegate of the Government has said that it will address “the rehabilitation of the envelope to provide it with better energy saving performance, incorporating insulation on facades and roofs and renovating its carpentry and glazing. The intervention will include the porticated area of Zocodover and the restoration of the passage of the Blood Arch, where the cleaning and consolidation of the current elements will be carried out. The building will be provided with universal accessibility and all its services will be modernized with criteria of energy efficiency, habitability, safety and comfort.”
The complete building “will be destined to the use of offices for the General Administration of the State, in order to house in a more flexible and updated way the needs program of the Delegation of the Government in Castilla-La Mancha that is currently developed in the same property, including the institutional activity”.
Milagros Tolón recalled that “the budget of the intervention is 10 million euros and the works will start imminently, with an expected execution time of 2 years. During the work, the offices of the Delegation and the services provided here will be transferred to other buildings and units of the General Administration of the State, mainly to the Plaza de San Vicente, which is where the institutional headquarters will be. In fact, this will be the last press conference and the last act we do in these offices.”
The provisional headquarters, in St. Vincent Square
From Thursday 17 the Gender Violence Unit, the High Inspection of Education, the Citizen Care and Registration Unit, the Citizens Rights and Citizen Security Unit and the Common Services of the Delegation will be offered at the headquarters of the Plaza de San Vicente.”
Milagros Tolón concluded the press conference stating that it is “an investment of 10 million euros from the Government of Spain that guarantees the protection of a building of great patrimonial value of the city of Toledo, extends the enjoyment of that heritage with the valuation of the archaeological remains that it houses and modernizes the provision of public services with the rehabilitation of this building under the criteria of sustainability and energy efficiency”.