Ateneu Santboià

The Ateneu Santboià originated in the 19th century as a popular initiative to address the need for a common meeting space for workers after their very long and hard working days. Its history has had many ups and downs, but always with the goal of bringing culture closer to the town and serving as the social headquarters for the people of Sant Boi. During the final years of the dictatorship, it became a key center for leisure and culture in the Baix Llobregat region. Leading national artists such as Antonio Machín, Manolo Escobar, Joan Manuel Serrat, Núria Feliu, and the Orfeó Català choir, among others, performed at the Ateneu. By the 1980s, financial problems began following the construction of a bingo hall, and by the late 1990s, ownership passed to a construction company that abandoned the building after failing to develop speculative projects on the land.

Starting in 2000, a group of young people from the town squatted the Ateneu’s spaces and established it as their meeting point and social space, primarily using the theater, the outdoor bar and the gardens. In 2008, the poor condition of the building combined with a period of heavy rain caused the collapse of the “cafeta.” Shortly after, the City Council purchased the building and closed the theater. The reduction of usable space for activities led to internal efforts to seek alliances and to consider the future of the facility.

At the end of 2013, following the #SaveAteneu campaign to prevent the definitive demolition of the theater, the Straddle3 collective and LaCol joined the technical team to develop a participatory process to define the uses, spaces, and management of the future facility.

Over the course of a year, thematic workshops, empowerment sessions, and open house days were held at the building. Additionally, research into new knowledge transfer methodologies was prioritized, resulting in a dedicated website for the process where the debate continued and all generated information was always accessible to anyone interested. The use of “relatogramas” was also introduced as a digital tool to summarize the events.

You can consult the final document (document and annexes in PDF), which contains all project details, and visit the project website at www.nouateneu.cat.