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Carme Recreation Centre
autoria desconeguda
It is a rectangular building with a gable roof consisting of three sections: a central section, narrower and taller, with a large balustraded balcony on the first floor and a main door with a segmental arch; and two side sections, somewhat lower than the central section, with three windows on the ground floor and three more on the first floor. All the openings, as well as the eaves and the vertical separations between the sections, are made of brick. The whole building is painted white and has a marked symmetry (Salas, Salazar, 2011). It has two side sections with an irregular stone plinth at the bottom. The current brick coping is a later addition. The very narrow central section frames the main entrance to the building, which is accessed via a staircase with five steps. The door leads to a room that acts as a hallway, and where the ticket office used to be. On one side, from this space, there was access to the right-hand side section, which was the old cafeteria, now a nursery (the door is currently boarded up). On the other side, there was access to the right-hand section, which was the auditorium. Both sections are rectangular and parallel, the left one being much longer as it ends with the stage. Thus, the central section only houses the auditorium and some spaces on the first floor just above it, which are accessed by a staircase integrated into a new parallel section along the left wall. The main or social hall of the old recreational society was located in that space on the first floor. The left-hand side building, which is longer, has the typical tent-like structure of a theatre. The hall was used for both dancing and theatre. The roof has been refurbished with fibreglass and the wooden trusses are no longer visible. The hydraulic mosaic flooring stands out. The theatre preserves the old stage machinery and dressing rooms. The right-hand side of the building is single-storey and this is where the cafeteria was located. It opens onto a courtyard and currently houses the municipal nursery. The wall facing the courtyard shows the irregular masonry of boulders bound with mortar, with the corners and architectural openings framed with brick. This finish contrasts with the plastering of the main façade. The building has undergone various transformations over time. There are no documents that tell us the date on which the Carme recreation centre was built. However, the construction of this building should be placed in the first quarter of the 20th century. Before the Spanish Civil War, there were two social centres in Carme: the left-wing one (the current Casal de Carme), called the Centro Popular de Carme, and the right-wing one, called the Centro Recreativo (and the subject of this file). The left-wing centre was for workers and the right-wing centre was for owners and manufacturers. There was great rivalry between the two societies in Carme. They are located on the same street, opposite each other. The Carme recreation centre housed two organisations: the Workers' Cooperative Centre, established in 1922, and the Recreation Association, founded in 1925. The former has a social purpose (education, recreation, library, cultural activities, etc.), but its main function is as a cooperative. Whereas the ‘Recreational Association’, as its name suggests, was dedicated to leisure activities such as dance and theatre performances. Currently, the Recreational Centre is owned by the Town Council and the main hall is mainly used for theatre performances, leisure activities, etc. However, the municipality has a new cultural facility built on the site of the former Centre Popular.first half of the 20th century