The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) says that the government has decided not to build a carpark under its new central library, as its basement size is limited because of which a carpark there could only provide a small number of parking spaces.
The government decided in 2020 to redevelop the long-abandoned Hotel Estoril opposite Praça do Tap Seac into the city’s new central library. However, the government has still to come up with an exact schedule as to when the project will get off the ground.
IC President Leong Wai Man made the remarks during a press conference on Friday after a closed-door regular meeting of the government-appointed Cultural Development Consultative Council at the Macau Cultural Centre (CCM) in Nape.
Friday’s meeting was chaired by Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U, who is the council’s chairwoman. Leong, the council’s vice-chairwoman, briefed the media after the meeting.
The central library is currently housed in a listed building in Praça do Tap Seac, just across the square from the long-defunct Hotel Estoril.
During the meeting, IC officials briefed members of the council about the government’s latest design of its new central library project’s underground space.
Only limited floor area
Leong noted that the site where the new central library will be located, i.e., the derelict Hotel Estoril plot, only covers a relatively small area. In addition, Leong said, the future library building will be subject to a relatively low official height limit with the aim of ensuring the protection of the view of the UNESCO World-Heritage-listed Guia Lighthouse.
According to the Mapping and Land Registry Bureau’s (DSCC) online map, the plot where the old Hotel Estoril currently stands covers around 2,000 square metres.
More specifically, according to Leong, the new central library will be subject to a height limit of 29.37 metres on the side facing Avenida de Sidónio Pais and Praça do Tap Seac and 41.71 metres on the side facing Estrada da Vitória.
Consequently, Leong said, the new central library building will only have a limited gross floor area available for use.
Leong acknowledged that the library project’s design was initially carried out for setting up a two-basement-floor carpark. However, Leong said, due to the basement’s limited space, her bureau has now concluded that in terms of the feasibility of construction design, a two-basement-floor carpark there would only be able to provide 33 parking spaces “at the maximum”.
Leong said that an underground carpark with up to 33 parking spaces at the future library building could still not fully meet the official standards for a public carpark. With the aim of strictly meeting the officially required standards for a public carpark, Leong said, the library’s underground carpark could only have a small number of parking spaces.
An underground carpark at the library would be unable to provide a “reasonably” sufficient number of parking spaces, Leong said.
Moreover, Leong said, an underground carpark would “sacrifice” spaces that could otherwise be used for library facilities, considering that the library would also require a certain number of auxiliary facilities, i.e., those supporting the library’s operation, which could be set up on the basement floors. Otherwise, if the basement could be used for a carpark, the auxiliary facilities would have to be located in the building’s other floors.
Leong underlined that after studying the matter, the government has concluded that spaces for library facilities at the project “should not be sacrificed just because of the setting-up of a public carpark” there.
Consequently, Leong said, the government has now decided to continue with the design for its new central library project without putting an underground carpark there.
The Cultural Affairs Bureau said in July that it was aiming to invite construction bids for the project next year. The bureau also said at that time that it had still been unable to come up with a more exact budget for the project as its design was still underway.
When originally announcing its new central library project at the former Hotel Estoril plot in 2020, the government was aiming to complete the project in 2024 at the earliest.
No new project completion date has as yet been announced by the government.
A man walks across Praça do Tap Seac outside the dilapidated Hotel Estoril yesterday. – Photo: Tony Wong
