It was a year ago, precisely on June 15, 2020, that as a result of the rain and strong gusts of wind, part of the roof of the Biobío Theater suffered damages of varying degrees. Special fire-retardant membrane (that does not burn) that came off, causing part of the corridors, where the public passed, to flood and also damage part of the coconut fiber cladding of some walls.
A scene that was repeated in the last rains of last May, where the water again flooded part of the facilities of the cultural enclosure. Situation that should not happen again with the arrival of a new front of bad weather, since despite the delay in the repair (the membrane had been requested from Colombia, but finally one of national manufacture was chosen), the problem of the roof would be solved.
“It is a slow job, which has just finished this year, and that we were able to pay in part for an insurance that the corporation had. In other words, from the time the membrane broke last year until the repair work began, between January and February, we were homeless, which generated a lot of additional damage ”, pointed out Bernardita Neira, president of the Cultural Corporation of the Biobío Theater.
Words to which he added that “now we have to fix all that, because if we had started with it, without the roof membrane installed, it would have been useless, since the interior would have been damaged again. In other words, now is when the extra damage caused by the rupture of the membrane will begin to be repaired ”.
Major additional damage
Finally, the rupture of the membrane was the most “economical” to fix (with a cost close to $ 100 million), since everything else damaged raised much more the cost of the repairs, a value that remains to be covered. “We lack resources, since the insurance money was not enough to finance everything. The damages, in total, amounted to around $ 600 million. For example, coconut fiber is ordered from India to Argentina and from there to here, which now in a pandemic is much more expensive, “explained Neira.
This precision in repairing with the original materials with which the space was built, and not with just any “patch”, is due precisely to that, to respecting and maintaining the originality with which the space was conceived. theater in its materiality. “The theater It has a structure that we have respected one hundred percent, that is, all the installations that are made are consulted with Smiljan Radic, architect of the theater, so we have been super respectful in that and very careful to maintain the originality of the materials. The idea, obviously, is to be able to maintain the building as it should be ”, said the also journalist.
The Ministry of Cultures, through the seremi Carolina Tapia and the undersecretary Juan Carlos Silva, have been an important support in this sense of being able to solve, definitively, what was caused by the membrane and the collateral damage caused by its breakage.
“They have helped a lot with the procedures and have been very aware, and committed, that the theater can be fixed and to be able to pave the way so that we can function. We are looking with them, the way to get the missing resources by some means, “said the president of the cultural corporation of the Biobío Theater.
To which he emphasized that “the MOP is not in charge of fixing the theaterThere are only some pending observations with them for the final reception of the building ”.
Free online programming
Beyond its structure, the Biobío Theater, as has happened with most cultural spaces during the pandemic, it has developed a miscellany and free online programming, through its social networks and website, diversifying its offer each month and reaching a large number of audiences.
A positive aspect within all the uncertain and unstable that the health emergency triggered by the coronavirus has been. “The good thing about this online format is that it has allowed us to reach places we have never reached before. Before the pandemic we had an extension program, so that our billboard could reach the different communes and provinces of the Region, but this virtuality has allowed us to go much further, even abroad, ”said Neira.
Programming that is projected will follow the same modality for the rest of the following months, although it is still thought of face-to-face events according to the evolution of the pandemic. “We are looking at the ways that in the summer, perhaps we can do some activities open to the community somewhere in the open air, but everything is in we will see, for now the programming is via streaming and retransmission of recordings,” he emphasized.
Format that is also studied as one more possibility within the programmatic future of the theater. “We do not want to lose that of being able to reach more places, of having events or shows in the theater, but at the same time being transmitted live or deferred via streaming. A way to stay connected that is here to stay ”, concluded Neira.
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