Huambo – The Huambo Cultural Center, under construction since 2011, is scheduled to open in the first half of January, announced the director of the provincial office of Culture, Tourism, Youth and Sports, Jeremias Piedade.
Located in an area of three hectares between Norton de Matos and Granja avenues and the street that goes down towards Deolinda Rodrigues square, the infrastructure, whose works were officially assigned to a contractor in September 2011 and resumed in 2022, after five years stoppage, it will be “christened” with the name of the writer and author of the National Anthem, Manuel Rui Alves Monteiro.
Speaking this Wednesday to ANGOP, the official assured that all the work has been done so that the project can be made available to the public next January, as it is the month dedicated to National Culture.
He reiterated that the center, the first of its kind in the country, will offer users suitable spaces for recreational leisure activities and cultural development, with training rooms for atelier.
Jeremias Piedade said that the designation of the property, named after Manuel Rui Alves Monteiro, aims to pay tribute to a son of Huambo for his contribution to national culture and literature, in addition to being the author of the National Anthem of Angola.
In another point, Jeremias Piedade clarified that the removal, on site, of the statues of Norton de Matos, founder of this region, as well as his four virtues (Prudence, Justice, Fortress and Temperance) results from the fact that the center is essentially of cultural character and not historical.
Features of the center
The project will consist of three cinema theaters, with 500, 150 and 100 seats, respectively, two conference rooms, a space for the presentation of works of art, literature and music, two rooms for dance classes, an equal number for fine arts and crafts and one of exhibitions.
It will also feature 11 artistic and cultural specialty stores, two top-of-the-line restaurants, one of which is on the second floor, overlooking the Upper part of the city, two cafes facing the lower part of the city, support areas for actors and musicians during their performances on stage and two music classrooms.
The Center will have a bar, police station, a refrigerator, children's playground, drinks store, two multipurpose rooms, an open-air restaurant, with a performance area and a covered pedestrian walkway, which will connect the infrastructure to the Culture Garden .
ALH/CF/jmc
