Almost 25 years after the world premiere of Las Troyanas at the Nave de Talleres of the old steelworks in Port de Sagunt, fifteen 20-meter long iron tubes, which were part of the scenography designed by architect Santiago Calatrava, continue to deteriorate outdoors. These elements, which were planned for a nearby roundabout, will now be replaced by a project that values the local industrial heritage.
The production of Las Troyanas, directed by Irene Papas, cost approximately 400 million pesetas (about 2.4 million euros) for six performances. At that time, the regional secretary of Culture, Consuelo Císcar, assured that Calatrava's structure would remain in Sagunto as a «symbol of the city of Performing Arts».
In 2007, the Conselleria de Cultura reiterated its desire to install the tubes near the Nave, a proposal accepted by the city council with a plenary agreement promoted by the socialists. In 2012, with an investment of 600,000 euros of regional funds for a mega-roundabout, the then mayor, Alfredo Castelló, and the regional minister of Territory, Isabel Bonig, announced the «imminent installation» of the scenography. However, economic reasons and the change of municipal government paralyzed the project.
The current Sagunto City Council has no plan for Calatrava's tubes and assumes they are owned by the Generalitat. Furthermore, there is no record of any written file or commitment regarding their installation in the roundabout. Given this situation, the local government has promoted an alternative: the installation of two of the five hoppers that operated in the old Pantalán.
These hoppers, built in 1984 and in service until 1993, have a capacity of 50 cubic meters and are part of a broader project to convert the area into an open-air industrial museum. After overcoming a bureaucratic obstacle with the Conselleria de Cultura, as the space is included in the affected area of the Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC) of the Blast Furnace, the city council is finalizing their installation in the Nave roundabout.
