The renovation of the Palace of Justice in Valencia, the seat of the Supreme Court, threatens to become a never-ending story. It’s been a year since the workers left the building to move to a temporary headquarters and the work has not yet begun.
The Ministry of Justice still maintains the horizon of 2024 as the end date of some work that won’t start until the middle of next year. Meanwhile, the effects of the abandonment are being felt in the old headquarters. In fact, on the façade you can see that some vegetation has grown. Even next to the top of the building you can see how the small trunk of a tree is developing.
Sources from the Ministry of Justice explained that they are currently in award procedure the carrying out of the tastings which will serve to determine the patrimonial value of the building and, in addition, will allow to know the constructive state of a building that is catalogued as Property of Cultural Interest.
If everything goes as planned in September the tasting sessions to be held in October and November will be awarded. The objective is that the conclusions of the work can be known throughout December.
At first it was foreseen that these tastings were done between May and June so that the delay may lead to a further delay in the execution of the work.
The Regional Ministry’s forecasts indicate that The implementation project will be available in February next year, step prior to the bidding of the works. Councillor Gabriela Bravo said that it is expected that the work can begin in the middle of next year to be completed throughout 2024.
The reform of the Palace of Justice has not been an easy task and he’s even had to overcome legal hurdles. In February 2019, the Central Administrative Court for Contractual Appeals, an entity under the Ministry of Finance, annulled the award to the public company Tragsa of the project and works for the refurbishment of the headquarters of the Supreme Court of Justice by accepting the appeal lodged by the National Construction Confederation.
This reverse meant restarting the whole process with the consequent delay in the execution of the work. The overall investment will amount to EUR 24.3 million. The Regional Ministry points out that the remodelling of the headquarters could not be delayed any longer as the architectural complex has serious structural deficiencies, as well as problems in the supply of water, electricity or heating. This is compounded by the deterioration caused by humidity, since the interventions that had been carried out date back 50-60 years.
With the renovation works The existing housing will be removed to gain work space, there will be a library on the ground floor or the public bicycle parking area will be expanded. The original roofs of the historic building will also be recovered.
