Ó do Borogodó will have to vacate property in SP – 08/21/2023 – Bars and night

After a critical pandemic period, in which it had to crowdfund online to keep its doors open, Ó do Borogodó, a famous samba stronghold in the west of São Paulo, is going through yet another moment of uncertain future.

Stefânia Gola, owner of the bar that occupies property number 21 on Rua Horácio Lane, in Pinheiros, received, in the middle of last year, the notice that the owners were going to put up for sale the land with three buildings —the one on Ó, the of an old barber shop and a carpentry shop, all rented separately.

Gola received the news when he expressed his willingness to renew the lease for the venue, which has been operating for more than two decades and which, in 2021, mobilized donations that caused all the debts accumulated during the pandemic to be paid. The amount collected with the crowdfunding also guaranteed Ó’s stay there for another year.

The answer was that the property would be put up for sale, and the owners wanted the bar to leave the point to speed up the process. “We even got a willing partner and we even made a proposal to buy the part that comprises the Ó, but they wanted to sell the three properties”, says the owner.

Faced with the refusal, Gola filed a request for Ó do Borogodó to be considered by the city hall as a Special Zone of Cultural Preservation, or Zepec —an initiative of the 2014 Strategic Master Plan that considered the Petra Belas Artes cinema as one of these places, in 2016.

According to the legislation, Zepec can become “places destined for the formation, production and public exhibition of cultural and artistic contents, such as street theaters and cinemas, circuses, cultural centers, artistic residences and the like, open to the public, as well as spaces with affective, symbolic and religious meaning for the community”.

In practice, the measure ensures that these spaces continue to be used for culture, even if the property or its surroundings undergo real estate transformation.

It turns out that the opinion of the city hall, which would have a period of 30 days for analysis, is delayed. Gola, then, requested a hearing with the Secretariat of Culture for this Monday, the 18th. According to her, representatives of the secretariat stated that they will evaluate the request, but there is still no deadline for a response.