From Dictatorship to Democracy in Twentieth-Century Portugal by Raphael Costa

Author:Raphael Costa
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan UK, London

Fig. 4.6 Lourifruta’s facility. In this picture, the developer’s billboard from the early 2000s is as dilapidated as Lourifruta’s former office, storage and manufacturing facility. Lourifruta’s Headquarters c. 2013. Collection of the Author, (August 2013)

The building’s layout and amenities demonstrate Lourifruta’s dual economic and social purpose, as well as the importance of monitored space. Upon opening, Lourifruta’s building consisted of an industrial refrigeration facility, a reception area, and a “social zone” with an office, washrooms and a 3,021 square meter dining and cooking facility. The second level had two balconies and a public area. 74 The building would have an entrance big enough for bicycles, along with an area to park them. This would include a ramp leading to the general platform upon which facilities would be built for: a fruit processing station; social services for individual workers; administrative services; offices and garages to repair and maintain equipment; and “other buildings that could be considered necessary.” However, the fruit-processing and storage station, an Estação Fruteira, would be the principal facility and would have its own designated entrances and transit way. 75

The Estação Fruteira was the facility’s focal point. The Estação’s lobby would include two levels and house the social and administrative services. A potential workforce of 50 women and 25 men would use this space. 76 Lourifruta’s social services area would comprise: a foyer; changing rooms for men and women; washrooms, including showers, for men and women; an atrium; a kitchen with dish-washing facilities; a dining area; and a meeting room. 77 Eating and cooking areas would be a mixed gender space. 78 The administrative facilities would include: a vestibule; a reception area; an archive; an executive office; a manager’s office; offices for workers; and meeting rooms. The executive office would be on the second level and, importantly, have windows overlooking the facility’s Estação. 79 The refrigerators would be on the north side of the building in the back. 80

By March 1971, as predicted by the regional government of Lisbon, to which the CML reported, Lourifruta was admitting “difficulty” in building its facility. Following on a conversation that took place with town officials, Lourinhã’s mayor received a letter from the struggling coop. In the letter, dated March 5, 1971, Lourifruta explained that they would face a problem with funding the construction of their new facility and the necessary roadway infrastructure. The added expense was too much for Lourifruta to bear without help. The coop was writing to formally ask the CML to collaborate in expanding the road that went to the facility. Specifically, the coop asked for “help aligning the road, and other technical considerations.” 81 In response to the problem with the construction, Lucínio Guia da Cruz, Lourinhã’s mayor, invited Lourifruta’s directors to meet with him to discuss a possible delay in the construction schedule and a bank loan. 82 This episode would be resolved, in part, by the CML helping Lourifruta’s application for credit with the Banco Nacional Ultramarino in 1971. 83 This was not the first time, nor would it be the last, that Lourifruta and the CML collaborated.

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