The Macau government will no longer give the reconstruction project of the old Hotel Estoril directly to Portuguese architect Alvaro Siza Vieira. It has instead decided to open the work up to a public tender. According to Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam, the Portuguese architect has been informed of the decision and will be invited to participate in the tender. “[Direct adjustment is] according to the law. But that was the idea last year. Today, the situation is different because many architects want to compete. In the end, it is a political issue,” said Alexis Tam, quoted by Radio Macau. According to the secretary, in Macau “there are also good architects,” and a tender is “more transparent”. In April last year, the Macau government invited Siza Vieira to reconvert the building of the former Hotel Estoril into an arts center and art schools for young people. The Portuguese architect publicly defended the demolition of the hotel and decision to not maintain the facade of a building that is commonly associated with the start of casino operations by tycoon Stanley Ho, and therefore a part of the history of the largest industry in the territory. Then came a debate on the renewal of the building, which has been abandoned since the 1990s, and its eventual patrimonial and historical value, and the Macau government launched a public consultation process. In September, city planners association Macau Root Planning launched a petition to ask for the evaluation of the assets of the former Estoril hotel and adjacent pool. On 15 March this year, the Macao Cultural Heritage Council decided that the building would not be classified.
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