The Trinitat Vella Community Life Center will gradually reopen starting next week, three years after its closure due to the detection of formaldehyde in the air. The facility will resume activity in June with the first cooking and sewing workshops, will add the transfer of the women's center in July, and plans to operate normally in September.
The building, inaugurated in March 2022, was only operational for nine months before closing. The reopening comes after an intervention of 170,000 euros to eliminate the toxic gas and in a neighborhood that, during this time, has had its facilities saturated and part of the social care displaced to Bon Pastor.
The renovation cost 170,000 euros and the center will have semi-annual checks
The action to eliminate formaldehyde consisted of applying a special paint and improving the building's ventilation. After completing the latest interventions in December, the city council also updated routine maintenance elements such as elevators and fire systems.
"A layer of special paint has been applied to get rid of the formaldehyde and, in addition, the ventilation has been improved so that it evaporates faster" - Marta Villanueva, councilor of Sant Andreu, Barcelona City Council
In addition, the council has planned semi-annual checks to verify the safety of the space. The frequency of maintenance and supervision of the ventilation system will also be increased beyond what is required by regulations.
The Sala Jove, the Punt de Treball als Barris of Barcelona Activa, the Punt d'Informació i Atenció a les Dones, and the Servei d'Interculturalitat are based in the building. The return of these services will be progressive during the summer.
The neighborhood asks to recover in-person social care within the facility
The reopening responds to a sustained neighborhood demand since the closure. Manoli Martínez, from the AV Trinitat Vella, celebrated the recovery of the space and stressed that the neighborhood needed to have this facility available again because the rest of the services are full.
"We are very happy because it was greatly needed to recover this building, we have full facilities" - Manoli Martínez, AV Trinitat Vella
The Trinitat Vella Neighborhood Table maintains, even so, a specific claim for the new phase of the center. Roberto Rodríguez asks that Social Services have a weekly presence in the building, since the attention is now provided in Bon Pastor and that complicates access for elderly people or those with mobility problems.
"Now Social Services is in Bon Pastor but we need to have it close for the elderly or those who have problems moving around" - Roberto Rodríguez, Trinitat Vella Neighborhood Table
The Barcelona City Council has confirmed that Social Services will carry out weekly community activities in the facility to detect and refer possible situations of vulnerability. However, that formula does not equate to recovering ordinary attention there at the moment.
Another of the unique aspects of the building is its recent history. The Trinitat Vella Community Life Center, which was nominated for the ArchDaily Awards 2023, opened in March 2022 and closed after only nine months of operation.