The Santo André Nucleus, which belongs to the Carlos Machado Museum in Ponta Delgada, will undergo a new project worth around 480,000 euros. The information was confirmed to our newspaper by the Regional Director for Culture. Duarte Chaves explained that the only part missing to complete the work, which has been going on for several years, “is the roof of the building.”
“It’s a contract worth around 480,000 euros and it’s expected to be launched in the first quarter of 2024, with an execution time of 180 days (6 months). We expect the inauguration of this space to take place during the second half of 2024,” he said.
The Regional Director for Culture guarantees that “the process is moving forward” and that “the normal timings of these public procurement procedures” will be followed.
Duarte Chaves stresses that “this roofing process is autonomous” from the rest of the work already carried out on this building. The work for which the tender will now be launched only concerns “the specific space for accommodating museum reserves.”
“It was decided to have another roof on the building. The rest of the building is complete,” he said before explaining that “at the moment, we’re not talking about increasing the number of visitable areas. Those are finished”.

In June last year, during a visit to the works taking place at the site, the Regional Secretary for Education and Cultural Affairs, Sofia Ribeiro, referred to “a design error, which included an open area, the construction of which turned out to be unfeasible, requiring additional intervention by this Executive, which is only possible at this stage.”
In a press release published by the Government Portal, Sofia Ribeiro pointed out that “the solution now defined increases the building’s visitable area, which had been designed mainly for the storage and treatment of art pieces,” with an exhibition area, “visitable by the public, of less than 300 square meters, in a total intervention area of around 2,700 square meters”. According to the official, the work to cover this open area, “in addition to providing a solution to the increase in the public-visitable exhibition area, will reduce the running costs of the building itself.”
The work on the Carlos Machado Museum has been going on for about a decade, and this process has seen several advances and setbacks over this period.
The Carlos Machado Museum, which opened in 1880, includes collections of Natural History, Art, and Regional Ethnography and currently has three museum nuclei: the Santo André Nucleus, the Santa Bárbara Nucleus, and the Sacred Art Nucleus.

Luís Lobão, journalist for Correio dos Açores-Natalino Viveiros, director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Cultures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance)  at California State University, Fresno.