The project to convert the old Nuestra Señora del Carmen sugar factory in Torre del Mar into a museum continues to be beset by problems and is highly unlikely to be opening to the public in the summer as had been planned.
The project has so far cost €2,338,262, compared to the original budget of €1,740,202, and now requires another €250,000 to allow completion. This does not, however, include furnishing the building.
The project was originally started in 2003 with a budget of €1,629,321 and a completion period of 14 months. The contractor subsequently abandoned the project and a new one was awarded in 2005 in the amount of €1,649,363 and with a completion time of nine months.
Two major additions to the project, €427,427 to cover items not included in the original plans and €261,471 to take into account new regulations relating to electricity supplies, were then necessary.
A dispute between the contractors, Sardalla España and Construcciones Iglesia, and the Council then led to the project coming to a complete standstill for two years, since February 2008 to be precise.
In the meantime, other factors have been affecting the project, such as damage to the facade of the building and a break-in by a group of people who then held a party in the building.
It now transpires that the Council must first approve the budget for 2011 before work can resume, so a summer opening is almost certainly out of the question.