Tender for renovation of the Market of Bolhão

After the end  of the underground works taking place next to the Market of Bolhão, the renovation of the building is set to begin in 2017.

The need to renovate the Bolhão market began almost half a century ago, but it was in the 1980s that an inspection by the City Hall of Porto identified the urgency and gravity of the problem. The building presents structural damages that are related to subsoil problems besides the natural degradation caused by a century of erosion.

The need for a substantive intervention with the provisional withdrawal of the sellers was immediately established.

Several municipal mandates and various projects later, the market renovation never happened. Today, the building has severe stability issues, it is secured by ramshackle piles and does not fulfil the necessary and legal safety and hygiene requirements.

In April 2015, after several feasibility studies, Rui Moreira presented his project for the Market. The market would not be sold, would not be concessioned, would not be distorted and it would preserve its sellers.  

In January 2016 the project received a favorable opinion from the General Directorate of Culture, for complying with the norms and requirements of heritage preservation as the building is classified.

In July, the provisional intervention schedule was announced. Rui Moreira also announced that sellers would be temporarily transferred to La Vie Shopping Center, a few meters from the market.

On August 1st, work began on the subsoil, which allowed the diversion of infrastructures that would make it impossible to intervene in the building and the creation of an indispensable technical basement. These works are the responsibility of Águas do Porto.

The second phase of the building works will begin in 2017 and two years from now, Porto will fulfill one of its deepest and most legitimate wishes: to see the Bolhão Market as a public and traditional market.