The city council of the northern Catalan town has started a "solidarity" campaign to finance the rehabilitation works of the Swiss Maternity Hospital in Elna (Rosselló). The building had to be closed urgently at the end of April due to the cracks that appeared and which have worsened in recent days. In a first assessment of the damage, the repair is estimated at around 870,000 euros. Its mayor, Nicolàs Garcia, expects the French administration to assume approximately half of the budget, although he assures that the municipality cannot afford the rest of the cost of the repair.
"That everyone give what they can: one euro, two, a thousand euros... whatever," insists the mayor. For now, the local administration has installed a box to collect donations at the entrance of the emblematic building and, in turn, they have opened an account number to make contributions.
Meanwhile, and waiting for the works to begin, a space open to the public will be set up on the ground floor and an exhibition similar to the one inside the building will be installed in the gardens. The visits will be free, except for the groups where the guide service will be offered.
The building, which was founded by the Swiss Elisabeth Eidenbenz in 1939, had cracks for a long time, but they have grown and new ones have appeared. The technicians who inspected it warned of the danger of landslides that existed. "They told us that there was a risk to people," says the Elna Heritage technician, Béatrice Verhille.
According to the mayor, the master who recovered the building at the end of the 90s did some work "as he knew best" and a few years later the town council carried out an intervention to install an elevator. These factors, added to the situation of extreme drought and the possibility of lack of foundations have led to this situation.
From the outset, the outer part will have to be protected and cordoned off to prevent stones from falling from the cornice. This intervention, which will be carried out in the coming weeks, will cost around 170,000 euros, but the total reform is valued at around 900,000 euros, "at least". García foresees that approximately half of the works will be assumed by the French state and various government administrations, taking into account the importance of the building, but warns that some 450,000 euros will still be missing. The mayor assures that the municipal coffers cannot assume it because of the singularity of the municipality, but also because, in addition to the Maternity, they have several historical monuments that have to be repaired. Between them, the wall.
For this reason, they have launched a campaign to get funding. They have opened an account number that they have spread through social networks and installed an urn at the entrance of the Maternity. For the moment, an anonymous contribution has donated 10,000 euros. The city council considers the possibility of using platforms dedicated to crowdfunding to get citizens from other countries to feel challenged and collaborate in financing.
On the other hand, they plan to request the involvement of the Spanish Government and the Generalitat de Catalunya due to its high historical and symbolic value. "Here the history of humanity is explained. It cannot be closed," remarks García.
