"Unfortunately, we have not yet been able to open the Salão Central Eborense, but it will open, we hope, at the end of May", said today the Mayor of Évora, Carlos Pinto de Sá, in statements to the Lusa agency. According to the mayor, the construction work was completed about a year and a half ago, but the space has not yet opened its doors due to delays by the company E-Redes (formerly EDP Distribuição) in the construction of the Transformer Station (TS) that will serve the building. "It is finally built and the equipment testing period is underway, already with the TS", he said, stressing that the space is expected to be inaugurated at the end of May. The concrete day of the reopening, the mayor said, "has not yet been defined", because "the equipment is still being tested and it is necessary to make sure that everything is working properly". Noting that E-Redes had "difficulties in meeting the deadlines" for the construction of this TS, which prevented the opening of the space, Pinto de Sá stressed that the problem "was not only with Évora, it has been generalised". "We have complained over time, and they have been arguing with the lack of materials and the difficulty in finding a contractor", he said, considering the justifications given by E-Redes "plausible". "We have also experienced some of these situations, such as lack of materials and contractors, and therefore we do not really have any grounds on which to ask for any other response from the company", he added. Regarding the Salão Central Eborense, the mayor recalled that the requalification of the space, which started in 2020, involved an investment of 2.5 million euros, with 70% of the funding secured by European funds. According to the mayor, the hall will be a multipurpose space for culture, but also for other areas, such as business or sports, and intended for events and initiatives by associations, agents and institutions of Évora. Located in the historic centre of the Alentejo city, the century-old Salão Central Eborense has been closed since the late 1980s. The building was commissioned in 1916 by businessman José Augusto Anes as a space for culture and variety shows and, over the years, has 'passed through the hands' of several owners, always with a predominance of cinema screenings. Over the years, the public attendance decreased, leading to its definitive closure in the late 1980s, and the city council acquired the building in 1996. Read Also: 25 April. Montemor-o-Novo Archive keeps the memory of the Agrarian Reform (Portuguese version)