With the withdrawal of the fence that separates the old parking lot from the center of Santander, the beginning of the construction of the Botín Center has been symbolized.
This new center, which will open on June 1, 2014, will attract 200,000 visitors a year, and its activity will contribute annually to the maintenance of 650 jobs. Only construction will generate 1,400 jobs during the two years of works.
The Botín Foundation will allocate 77 million euros to its building, the largest private investment in a cultural infrastructure in Spain. It will be another element of the European circuit of art and entrance to the cultural axis of Cantabrian Cornisa.
Its activity will integrate art and an innovative educational program to develop creativity and generate social development, with an annual budget of 12.5 million euros.
The center will have 2,500 square meters for exhibitions, a multifunctional interior square and educational and social spaces. It will link the center of Santander to the bay with a new park with three public squares, one of them covered and another with an amphitheater for 1,000 people.
Institutional act
The symbolic act of the start of the works took place in the old ferry parking, and Emilio Botín, and Renzo Piano, who presented the project were present. Next to them were, among other authorities, the Secretary of State for Culture, José María Lasalle; the president of Ports of the State, José Llorca; the president of the Port Authority of Santander, José Joaquín Martínez Sieso; the president of the Parliament of Cantabria, José Antonio Cagigas; the Government delegate in Cantabria, Samuel Ruiz; the mayor of Santander, Íñigo de la Serna, and the president of Cantabria, Ignacio Diego.