Lord Hotel will not be Fortaleza City Hall and City Hall says it will return the building to the State

The building of almost 70 years which hosted the Lord Hotellocated in the center of Fortaleza, in
corner of 24 de Maio and Liberato Barroso streets, remains abandoned. Previously owned by the State Government, it was transferred to the City Hall in 2019, which proposed the restoration of the site to house the City Council until 2022. The Fortaleza City Council, however, declared giving up on the project due to the “complex work to revitalize the building that showed up economically unviable”.

After the Legislature withdrew, the Fortaleza Department of Culture (Secultfor), which carried out the instruction to list the building, declared that it carried out the process of devolution from the Lord Hotel to the State Government on August 9, 2023.

Metrofor, which led the expropriation of the building in 2001, reported that the Lord Hotel is still under the responsibility of the City of Fortaleza. “In December 2023, the Government of Ceará received a letter from the City of Fortaleza expressing interest in undoing the assignment – before the initial deadline [de 25 anos] stipulated, and without the announced works on site”, informed the ministry.

“The letter that the State received deals with the City Hall’s intention to return it. Thus initiating the procedures for the termination to be completed and made official,” Metrofor’s communications department said in a statement. According to the agency, for the transfer to be undone, technical reports are necessary that indicate the current situation of the building.

While there is a conflict of versions between the two powers, the Fortaleza City Council emphasizes that it still maintains its interest in transferring the Casa’s activities to the Centro neighborhood. “Since then, technical studies have been carried out to facilitate the transfer of activities from the Legislature to the Center, with the search for another building that can allocate its administrative, legislative and service provision functions to citizens”, he adds.

The risk of collapse of the Philomeno Gomes building, the building’s first name, was identified in inspections carried out in 1999, before work began on the underground section of the Metro in Fortaleza. In 2001, the property received a demolition proposal from Metrofor, with a view to work on the Lagoinha Station.

In the same year, negotiations began for its expropriation. According to the Government of Ceará, 101 administrative agreements and 19 legal actions were carried out to compensate owners. The values ​​ranged from R$2,124.42 to R$161,256.55.

Throughout the 2000s, the building was provisionally listed by the Municipality. In 2019, then-governor Camilo Santana approved the transfer of the building to Fortaleza City Hall. The idea was to house the Fortaleza City Council on the site, currently located in Luciano Cavalcante.

With the inauguration, a project to restore and convert the Hotel into a City Hall was presented. In addition to being renovated, the place would also be expanded and would have offices, a cafeteria, plenary hall, event hall, among other sectors. The expectation was that the change of address would take place by 2022.

Without demolition or renovation, the Lord Hotel is currently surrounded by protective siding. Outside, there are cracks and falling plaster, with signs of infiltration.

In addition to the broken windows, the metal support beams are visible, the result of interventions by the Government so that the building could withstand the impacts of excavations at the then Lagoinha Station (currently José de Alencar Station). R$3.7 million were invested in the work.

Trader Francisco Auricélio, 47, passes by the old Lord Hotel almost every day since he started working in the city’s central area in 1991. According to him, at the time, the building was still well maintained. “Despite it being much less busy at that time, as the older people said, it was still a highly regarded hotel, the best here in the Center,” he comments.

“Usually, those who stayed were tourists who came to visit the Center of Fortaleza, visiting historical sites, such as the José Alencar Theater”, points out Auricélio. He is saddened to realize that time and public neglect have deteriorated the building.

“The same thing will happen that happened in that building in Praia [de Iracema], São Pedro. When they realized, there was no way to reform. We see that there is still a healthy structure and there is still room to do something. It is a historical asset that helped the City a lot, especially financially”, concludes the merchant.

Lord Hotel over time

The history of the Lord Hotel dates back to its foundation in 1956. Built by the Philomeno Gomes family, who also founded and owns the São Pedro Building, the place hosted illustrious personalities, such as Roberto Carlos, Dercy Gonçalves and the Brazilian Football Team.

The gradual decline of the large hotels in the Center began to manifest itself in the 1980s, with tourists’ preference for accommodation on the capital’s seafront. In the midst of a crisis affecting the hotel sector, the Lord Hotel closed its doors in 1992, joining other emblematic establishments that had closed their activities — the San Pedro Hotel, in 1959, and the Savanah Hotel, 1963.

After closing, half of the project became a guesthouse, and the other portion would be used for residential apartments. The ground floor, in turn, became commercial. In total, the project had around 120 apartments.

According to Jefferson John, president of the Ceará Department of the Brazilian Institute of Architects (IAB-CE), the Philomeno Gomes Building has elements of Art Deco styles and the beginning of modern architecture in Ceará. For him, the building has potential for revitalization.

“Restoration techniques can be applied. There was even an architectural project for the City Hall. However, this building, as it has characteristics of a hotel, can be adapted for any other type of activity, a public building or office, for example ”, he points out.

According to Jefferson John, it is necessary for Fortaleza to preserve historic buildings, especially those located in the Center.

“A city needs these built elements to tell its story, this is called ‘architectural facts’. We are talking about a building next to Theatro José de Alencar, close to a square and an important bus terminal. In other words, an entire region full of history.”

Luiz Gonzaga de Brito, 78 years old, has had a commercial location next to the Lord Hotel since 1985. At the time, the retiree explains that the hotel development boosted all commerce in the region. “There were several stores here, but they put up fences preventing circulation and didn’t continue with any project in the building, it became a dead spot”, he reports.

Since then, the elderly man has no longer been able to rent his commercial space. For him, without renovation and occupation, the only solution in sight would be demolition. “If the government thinks it can’t do anything there, then it shouldn’t be standing around taking up space,” says Brito.

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