Work to retrofit the Campinas Technical College (Cotuca) building began this month and should be completed by August. The expectation is that students and teachers will be able to be in the old building in the second semester, where they had to leave in 2014 due to lack of conditions of use. The restoration of the site is the responsibility of Campinas Decor, in partnership with Unicamp.
“For the entire school community, revitalization is fundamental. It's a shot in the arm because we've been without our place since 2014. The big expectation is to see how the building will look and then put all the infrastructure in place to return in mid-August”, points out the director of Cotuca, Vanessa Petrilli Bavaresco. Since leaving the site, the College has been operating in a rented building in the Taquaral neighborhood.
The general coordinator of Unicamp, Teresa Atvars, reinforces the importance of the coordination between the University and Campinas Decor, remembering that two other revitalizations have already been carried out through the partnership: at Fazenda Argentina and Estação Guanabara. Cotuca's return to the building, she believes, will bring benefits not only to the school community, but also to the surrounding area, which ended up losing activities, such as parking lots and stores, as a result of Cotuca's departure. “It is a great source of pride for the city that we can have these partnerships and restore historic buildings. It will be a huge benefit for students, teachers and the city itself, which will gain qualified space.”
The fact that this is the conservation of a building that is important to the history of education in Campinas, and listed as Historical Heritage, is also highlighted by Teresa as a reason for happiness for Unicamp. “This building is spectacular. It's not just an old building, it's emblematic of the history of education in Campinas. In addition to the architectural aspect, it brings the history of Campinas education,” she says.
The historical elements, during the revitalization, will not be altered, guaranteeing their preservation, explains the coordinator of Campinas Decor, Sueli Cardoso. The focus is maintenance. In addition, the electrical and hydraulic network will be completely redone, so that they meet the needs of the College. Sueli also highlights the relevance, for Campinas Decor, of working on the readjustment of a public building. “For us it was very gratifying because we are taking a historic building, a jewel of our city, little known and little valued, and we will be able to return it to be used, and used well, with the return of Cotuca”, she says. Campinas Decor, the largest exhibition in the area of architecture, decoration and landscaping in the interior of São Paulo, holds its 2020 exhibition between April and May. In the following months, the space will be suitable for Cotuca's return.
The building
Located on Rua Culto à Ciência, in the central region of Campinas, the building called “Complexo Bento Quirino” was completed in 1918 by the engineer and architect Francisco de Paula Ramos de Azevedo. The construction was carried out with the recommendation that a technical college be located there, a request made in the will of the abolitionist councilor Bento Quirino dos Santos, who died in 1915. In 1967, Cotuca was founded and began operating on the premises.
According to the Campinas Decor organization, restructuring the space will cost between R$10 and 12 million. Unicamp finances part of the work, with R$2,8 million. The amount, already foreseen in the budget approved in 2019, relates to the roof structure, acquisition of materials and contracting of services.
