Zaragoza to redesign 2,600 square meters of Plaza de Santa Engracia

InfrastructureNews

The redesign of Plaza de Santa Engracia, which will become a large pedestrian and landscaped space, begins its countdown. The Zaragoza City Council has delivered the project to the DGA Provincial Heritage Commission, to receive its authorization to start the works within a month, throughout October. The works, which will be finished in February after four months of work, will cost around 700,000 euros.

The Heritage authorization is decisive, given that it is a protected environment not only for housing an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC) such as the basilica, cataloged for its monumental interest. The square itself is a set of cultural interests safeguarded by the General Urban Planning Plan.

The Councilor for Infrastructure, Patricia Cavero, explains that because of Heritage, the City Council considered that it was necessary to promote a comprehensive reform. “We are going to expand the space for pedestrians, so that it is fully accessible, with all the renewed services. But we are also going to create a harmonious environment with the basilica and the rest of the buildings of interest in the square, as Heritage asked us,” he declared.

Currently, there is a parking area, loading, and unloading, parking meters, multiple signs, an outdated cabin, or the bust of Costa. All these elements are to be removed or moved to renovate the underground infrastructures of the square and enable a new pedestrian space next to the Paseo de la Independencia.

The project, which covers an area of 2,600 square meters, plans to transform the plaza into a single platform, with a modification of the pavements. There will be two accesses to Calle de Costa from the surrounding streets, from Don Hernando de Aragón and Tomás Castellano. This last street will allow you to reach the facade of the church for weddings or funerals and the Post Office.

The design of the square has included unobstructed passageways: for example, one in front of the main façade of the church of Santa Engracia, 10 meters wide. There are also two wide pedestrian routes next to the optician and the Post Office facade. Inside the square, there will be two other free spaces to enhance the basilica and facilitate the passage of the Holy Week processions.

In addition to the partial pedestrianization of the square, where the future memorial for the victims of COVID-19 will be located, it is planned to expand the green areas, which will incorporate a new irrigation system. There will be 20 new medium-sized trees and rectangular “green crevices” with different plant species situated in the central area of the square. They want to be a memory of the old orchard of Santa Engracia.

photo: Turol Jones, un artista de cojones from Villanueva del Cascajal, República Independiente de Mi Casa – 01012011 220408 ZGZ 8882, CC BY 2.0