The Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) said yesterday that about 90 pieces of monitoring equipment have been set up in the Red Market building’s main structure and on its external walls, with the aim of enabling engineers to detect possible abnormalities in a timely manner such as settlement (gradual sinking) and tilting of the heritage-listed building while it is being renovated.
The Red Market closed on March 28 for a renovation project, which will start next month.
Stalls that operated in the Red Market were moved to a temporary wet market building, which opened on March 29.
The Red Market, officially known as Almirante Lacerda Municipal Market, is located on the corner of Avenida de Horta e Costa and Avenida do Almirante Lacerda.
The Red Market, which opened in 1936, was listed as a heritage site under the category of “buildings of architectural interest” in the 1990s. It is the only wet market building in Macau listed as a cultural heritage site.
The temporary wet market building that opened on March 29, officially known as Provisional Almirante Lacerda Market, is located near the Patane Market.
An IAM statement yesterday said that the “time-distinctive” architectural features of the Red Market building, such as the external walls, roofing and the parts above, the cross-shaped tower in the centre, and the staircases, will be kept intact while the building’s renovation project is being carried out, because of which, the statement said, the project “will be a difficult one”.
In addition, the statement said, a full evaluation was not possible inside the Red Market building while engineers were designing the renovation project, and the design could only be carried out by comparisons between the findings of a partial evaluation of the building and its old design drawings.
Consequently, the statement said, one of the major tasks before the commencement of the renovation is to monitor and collect the building’s fundamental data.
The Municipal Affairs Bureau has installed about 90 pieces of monitoring equipment in the Red Market building’s main structure and on its external walls, so that any abnormalities such as settlement and tilting can be detected in a timely manner, the statement said.
The statement pledged that the bureau will to its best to overcome any difficulties that might occur while the Red Market is being renovated, and strike the right balance between the protection of the building’s architectural elements as a heritage site and ensuring that its structure will be well consolidated.
The statement said that as the external walls and roof structure of the Red Market building will be preserved, due to space limitations large-scale machinery cannot be used for the installation of large-scale temporary steel structures, the enhancement of the foundation, and the reconstruction of the internal foundation and structure. Consequently, the statement said, work must be carried out step by step, and attention must be paid to the connection between each partitioned area.
During each stage of construction, the statement said, the data must be closely monitored so as to observe the latest changes in the preserved structures.
According to the statement, various facilities will be installed such as an air conditioning system, a transformer room, barrier-free lifts for people and goods and a barrier-free platform lift.
This undated handout photo provided by the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) yesterday shows the Red Market’s cross-shaped tower.
This IAM photo released yesterday shows an excavator inside the Red Market, the renovation of which will start next month.
