“They will finish Praça Onze,” denounced the samba by Herifelto Martins and Grande Otello. More than 80 years later, Mayor Eduardo Paes wants to revive it.
In its heyday, between the end of the 19th century and the 1940s, it was a melting pot of cultures, settled by freed slaves from declining coffee plantations and foreign immigrants, especially Portuguese, Italians and Spanish. Arabs and Jews are mixed.
There were a large number of entertainment places nearby: cafes, bars, breweries, bowling alleys, snooker halls and gafieiras for maxi dancing. Then of course samba with the first schools performances. In 1942, it was swallowed up for the construction of President Vargas Avenue. Demolitions in the area displaced hundreds of families and demolished 525 buildings.
It is interesting to note that one of the first urban plans of Rio, drawn up in 1843 by the engineer Henrique de Porbere Rohan, placed Campo de Santana, adjacent to the square, in a central location, where the city should grow, heading west. Reality didn’t want it that way. The seaside plantations of Flamingo and Botafogo, favored by the aristocracy, drove development to the southern region.
Bice, a candidate for governor, is trying to turn the screws of history. As happened with the circumferential bridge in the port area, the sine qua non is the demolition of the Trenta em di Marco bridge, which runs parallel to the Sambadrome, and its replacement with a ledge.
The name of the project, Praça Onze Maravilha, reveals a lack of creativity. But the ideas are good: a large library and an apotheos square without walls, integrated into the renovated space with trees. To attract new residents, the review of building codes and templates in the Cidade Nova, Estacio, Catumbi and Río Compredo neighborhoods is stuck in time. There must be a counterpart to preserve at least part of the old houses.
It won’t be cheap, R$1.75 billion, and completion is very far away – only in 2032. I hope it works out.
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