Rio de Janeiro’s Fine Arts Museum Starts Building Restoration Work

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The installation of scaffolding and testing of the first stage of the renovation of the Museu Nacional de Belas Artes (National Museum of Fine Arts – MNBA), located in the historic center of Rio de Janeiro, has begun. The cultural venue is listed by the Institute of National Historical and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN).

In an interview with Agência Brasil, the museum’s director, Mônica Xexéo, reported that the project was approved in July last year in an ordinance by the Ministry of Justice and Public Safety’s Diffuse Rights Fund (FDD). The contract with the Concrejato company, winner of the tender for the works, was signed in December 2019.

In January this year, the city government issued the permit and scaffolding was placed around the building in February, encompassing Mexico and Heitor de Melo Streets and part of Rio Branco Avenue.

The first stage of the work will entail the restoration of the facades, domes, and terraces, and the installation of fire and panic detection and fighting systems, as well as the modernization of the electrical system. Mônica reported that junction boxes, tanks, and hydrants will be increased and a lightning rod will be installed, meeting the Fire Department’s requirements.

“We only managed to qualify [in the tender] because we already had the projects in place since 2013, preparing to seek resources,” said the MNBA’s director.

The restoration of the century-old building, built in 1937, will take place in three stages, and is expected to be completed in 2022 when it “will be returned to society with the whole building renovated. These are joint actions,” said Mônica. The building was initially built as a school and has been adapted to become a museum.

In the second stage of restoration, which the director plans to tender this year, the building will be air-conditioned and the entrance hall will be stripped, to enable seeing many paintings on the walls that were hidden in the mid-20th century when these spaces were painted over. The third stage involves the modernization of the two auditoriums of the MNBA.

Budget

Monica Xexéo said the funds released by the FDD total R$25.8 million (US$6.5 million), but the tender reduced spending on the first stage of the renovation to R$14.8 million. “I can handle the second stage with the balance of R$10 million,” she said. The MNBA is expected to launch a new public tender in 2020 by the FDD or other sponsors to top up the funds.

The project to renovate the building has a total budget of R$40 million. “All these resources are improving the museum towards a contemporary technology”. Mônica further stressed that the works will generate between 450 and 500 direct and indirect jobs.

The construction manager, architect Alexandre Vidal from Concrejato, stressed that a specialized team was needed to restore the architectural setting of a facility that is currently in operation, despite a reduction in the number of exhibitions.

Mônica Xexéo stressed that Concrejato, winner of the tender, has extensive experience in the sector of restoration of structures and historical and architectural heritage in the country. Concrejato has 13 restoration works in progress throughout Brazil, such as the Ipiranga Museum and the Farol Santander, in São Paulo; and the Gustavo Capanema Palace, in Rio de Janeiro.

Source: Agência Brasil