One of the most unique corners of the Montjuïc mountain is languishing waiting to come back to life. The historic building of La Font del Gat will host a restaurant again, after the previous one closed in 2020 as a result of the pandemic. The public company Barcelona de Serveis Municipals (B:SM), responsible for the management of this space, has tendered the works with a budget of 470,948.43 euros (VAT included) to rehabilitate the exterior of the building and the surrounding gardens. The works are expected to start in September and finish in the first quarter of next year, according to the municipal company B:SM.
Specifically, work will be done on the facades, roofs, balustrades of the main garden, pavements and exterior drainage, as well as the elevator, whose machinery and exterior finishes will be renewed.
In addition to the degradation due to the passage of time and painted over as a result of vandalism, the main damage to this building in Montjuïc is caused by humidity, which has caused losses of the paint layer and even of mortar at the base of 'some walls, and damage to the carpentry, which have even rotted in some places. They are not the only damaged elements. There is also a damaged pinnacle and some broken and displaced roof tiles.
In a second phase of the works, and once the new operator of the restaurant has been awarded in another tender, the interior of the building will be renovated, without a specific date yet.
As it is a listed building, the volume and facades will have to be maintained, in the same way that the original textures and colors will have to be recovered, in addition to the carpentry, railings and decorative elements. The interior will also have to preserve the historic structures and decorations. Any intervention will require research and historical work that justifies and documents the original parts, defines subsequent modifications, their integration with the requested proposal and the conservation of the aesthetic and landscape environment of the special complex, according to municipal sources.
The scope of the action includes an area of 943 square meters, although in this project there will be no action in the emblematic fountain that gives the place its name with its characteristic spout with a cat's head.
After two decades, the building and the garden surroundings will be ready after the last major renovation in 2002. Today, part of the building houses the rich documentary collection of the Center of Olympic Studies and Juan Antonio Samaranch Sport, managed by the Barcelona Olympic Foundation.
The Font del Gat is located within the Laribal Gardens, named after the original owner, the lawyer and journalist Josep Laribal. The City Council acquired the land in 1908 to turn it into one of the city's first public gardens.
With an eye on the centenary of the 1929 International Exhibition, this emblematic space will revive as a restaurant, formerly one of the most popular snack bars in the city with its well-known fountains.
