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Marina at the Parque das Nações With No Clear Strategy, 20 Years after its Inauguration

2 April 2018

The Parque das Nações Marina Nautical Association believes that there is “a need to adapt the marina to the current times, in 2018, not pretending that we are still in 1998.”

Inaugurated at the height of Expo ’98, 20 years ago, the marina at the Parque das Nações in Lisbon still has no viable strategy for the present times, the Nautical Association states, referring to the area’s infrastructure, and calls for a renegotiation of the concession contract. Ever since the elimination of the Parque Expo, “the Marina at the Parque das Nações has passed the last six years without a clear strategy, not looking to the future and planning a path ahead,” the president of the Parque das Nações Marina Nautical Association (ANMPN) told Lusa.

The formal extinction of the company that was created in 1993 to build, operate and dismantle Expo ’98 was announced for the end of 2016, five years after the then Environment Minister, Assunção Cristas, announced  the eventual closure of the public company that had been responsible for the urban management of the now parish of Parque das Nações. According to Paulo Andrade, it is now necessary “to adapt the marina to the current times, in 2018, not pretending that we are still in 1998 during the expo.”

“At the time, the idea was to have a marina with about a thousand seats, with the Nau building dedicated activities related to the marina. In fact, the market did not grow as much as expected, and we now have to look at the concession contract and redo it,” Mr Andrade told Lusa.

The ANMPN believes that the new concession should take three factors into account, to give the facility a more promising future. The first relates to the “south basin, where the marina is at the moment, where the contract must focus on the area itself, adapting reality to local necessities.” As for the northern basin, the association states that “it does not make sense” to continue to think of it “as an extension of the southern basin, because the southern basin is sufficient” to accommodate any vessels.

Thus, it would be possible to look at projects that had been presented before,” and which were not permitted because they were not in accordance with the concession contract,” Paulo Andrade said, noting that “some of them [were] very interesting and would have been very beneficial for the northern basin. ”

The third factor to be taken into account, according to ANMPN, is the Nau building, which “according to the concession contract is exclusively dedicated to activities relating to the marina,” which “no longer makes sense.” The association believes that its “its social object must be more comprehensive,” to “include other activities that would introduce more dynamism to the proprety.”

However, “I do not see any possible concessionaire, entity or company that would be interested in taking on the investment. This has been the case for 10 years, because the return on the investment would never be sufficient,” Paulo Andrade stated. Another of the problems facing the marina is that it requires “periodic maintenance, namely de-silting.”

“At the moment, much of the southern basin is silted up, and needs frequent maintenance work in order to create the necessary conditions for the operation of the marina,” the executive said. The president of the Association of Residents and Business Owners of the Parque das Nações also spoke to Lusa, stating that, with the extinction of the Parque Expo, “the marina is now a no man’s land,” with no definable purpose.

Figueiredo Costa also mentioned the odour at “low-tide, when the mud-flats appear,” which is of “great concern in terms of economic development” of that area of the city. “The plan was always to have the area surrounded by shops and cafés, as all the necessary infrastructure is present for both commerce and tourism to have a huge development potential here. But without the marina, there is nothing else around,” Mr Costa stated.

The Parque das Nações Marina was closed and left unmanaged for eight years, reopening in 2009. After years of abandonment and court proceedings, the facility underwent an investment of 14 million euros. Lusa tried to schedule an interview with the administration of the Marina of the Parque das Nações but received no response.

Original Story: Observador – Lusa

Photo: Manuel de Almeida / Lusa

Translation: Richard Turner