The President of the Government opened today the Museum of Boqueirão Whale Factory on Flores. This 1.5 million Euro-investment investment, which included the rehabilitation of the building, "serves the purpose regional cohesion."

"The Government has made this investment on the island of Flores, not just to have a place to visit, but because it is an investment that serves the goal of regional cohesion," said Vasco Cordeiro, who spoke on the first day of the Regional Government's statutory visit to the island of Flores.

According to him, the investment made in the recovery of this old plant, located in Santa Cruz das Flores, "serves the purpose of bringing the islands closer" and enhances the potential of "what this island can effectively provide to the perspective towards the preservation of the Region's past and memory."

In his speech, Vasco Cordeiro stressed, however, that this investment also includes the strategy of transforming spaces that represent the memory and past the Azores, not only to preserve local history, but also to turn them into "the foundations of a new future."

"That is what we are doing here. When we give a new use to the former Boqueirão Whale Factory with new features as a tourist and cultural attract, we are turning it into a space that has still much to give for the progress and development of the island of Flores," said the President of the Government.

This project, which was developed over several phases, included the recovery of two whaling boats, the reconstruction of the building and the redevelopment of Boqueirão Whale Factory into a museum. It was thus possible to reconcile the organisation of this space with a perspective focused on the portrayal of the memories of an activity that was once of great importance to the island.

According to the President of the Government, this investment on Flores also falls under a wider strategy that comprises interventions and investments in various museums and cultural spaces throughout the archipelago.

On the occasion, Vasco Cordeiro pointed out the examples of the completion of the works of Angra do Heroísmo Public Library and Regional Archive, the first phase of the restoration and remodelling of Santo André Museum Centre at Carlos Machado Museum, the intervention in Conceição Palace, which includes the installation of the House of Autonomy, the Santo Amaro Shipbuilding Museum Centre and the intervention in Santa Maria's airport museum, tower and cinema.