The Alma bowling alley owners presented this Friday a written claim to the Ministry of the Interior in which report that the establishment will open its doors to the public on December 31 at night in the center of La Pedrera and that they take a position on whether or not they are authorized to function.
In that letter, they request that the ojudicial order “under the premise that ‘the National Police’s mission is to protect the free exercise of rights and freedoms, and to guarantee order and internal security‘”.
That letter will set the tone for “what the police are going to do” on the opening day of the nightclub, he told The Observer Andrés Marañas, one of the owners of Alma.
“If the police say that they are in favor of the mayor and Justice does not support us, we are going to start returning the money. We are not going to go to a fight with 3 thousand gurises inside“, he affirmed. In that eventual scenario that the opening does not take place, they would initiate legal actions at the civil level against the Municipality for economic damages, he added.
This claim arises from the latest statements by the mayor of Rocha, Alejo Umpiérrez a The Observer, who warned measures in case the opening materializes. “If they open, the Intendancy will exercise the authority. They will be criminally and civilly responsible for everything that can happen if they open. I’m not afraid of what might happen. They will be responsible for the crime of riot and incitement to commit a crime“, he said on Thursday.
In addition to that letter to the Ministry of the Interior, the owners of Alma submitted a petition to the third-round legal court of Rocha. There they ask that the Rocha Police Headquarters be informed that are authorized to open in the center of La Pedrera.
In the same petition, the bowling alley made a request based on a ruling handed down by the Court of Appeals which ensures that in the event that the closure is decreed, it will “provides for an economic order to be effective from the moment it is decreed of US$10,000 per day for each day that the breach lasts” of that sentence.
Two weeks from the start of the 2023 summer season the Alma de La Pedrera bowling alley and the Rocha Municipality continue their court dispute over location of dancewhich is usually a place very visited by young people during the months of January and February.
In recent days, the owners of the premises obtained a new judicial victory Y they reaffirmed their intention to open in the same location as the previous summer.
The judicial fight between Umpiérrez and the Alma bowling alley
In June of this year, the Municipality of Rocha resolved –before the claim of the neighbors and with the consent of the Departmental Board– to order the displacement of the dance 15 kilometers from the spa. The owners of the premises announced that they would ignore that decision and appealed to a court, which He agreed for the first time at the end of October of this year.
Then the Intendancy approved, through the Departmental Board, with 17 votes in 31 – white and red – the relocation of Alma. But the bowling alley was protected by the fact that the Municipality continues to not comply with the resolution of the Court of Appeals in Civil Matters of 3er Turn that had left without effect the resolution of the Municipality of Rocha in the first instance.
At that time, the court had requested that the decision go through the Departmental Board, something that the Mayor did and approved.
The owners of the bowling alley They devised a legal strategy together with their lawyers to twist the will of the municipal administration –and also of some residents of La Pedrera–.
The plan included the announcement of a dance for November 26, what am I looking for measure the reaction of the mayor prior to the season.
The lawyer for Frenaco SA (owner of the premises), Renzo Gatto, confirmed to The Observer what a “pre-inauguration” of Alma was announced for that date with the intention of “show people” that they were going to open in the same place as the previous summerbut also as a strategy to know “what reaction was going to have” the departmental government: “If he didn’t do anything, we could organize the final opening later on. If he intimidated us, we would appeal, and that’s how it happened.” They appealed and justice ruled in favor of the bowling alley.
Upon learning of the summons, Alma suspended the dance but began a process for the execution of the amparo sentence. “Since justice decided that Alma should not be impeded, the execution leads to a summons from the judge that in ten days the mayor must comply (with the order not to intervene),” Gatto said.
If Rocha does not comply, the judge can impose daily finesamong other sanctions, detailed the lawyer.
Justice once again agreed with Alma, and sent the summons to the mayor, whose deadline to begin serving the amparo sentence began last week.
