President, Mayor Open Rio Port Revitalization Centerpiece

(ATR) Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes says the opening of the Museum of Tomorrow is a reversal of neglect in the center of the city.

The museum is the largest project in the renovation of the city’s Porto Maravilha, located in the Centro district of downtown. The area had been home to abandoned buildings, and an elevated highway, which was eventually demolished.

The result has been open spaces and a new downtown light-rail system.

Designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, the museum sits on an abandoned pier on Guanabara Bay.

For the inauguration, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff joined the mayor and State Governor Luis Fernando Pezao open the project.

Earlier in the day Rousseff had been discussing federal money that would be allocated to the city for Games and Games-projects .

"We live a very special moment in this town, with the approach of the Olympics, which opened up many opportunities to Rio," Paes said at the inauguration.

"This here is the transformation that touches me most; the center had become a symbol of neglect. A city without a center is a city without soul, and our center is full of history and richness because the history of Brazil was made here."

The museum’s exhibits show the urgency needed to combat climate change. It aims to show visitors the impact humans have on Earth’s environment, to open their eyes to the change that must be made to reverse it. To show commitment to the theme, Calatrava designed the building to filter water from the polluted bay and release clean water back into the environment.

"This work could not be anywhere else because there is a strong interaction with the city of Rio and with nature," Calatrava said. "The building itself speaks, is what we call a speaking architecture. It is a lesson to make everyone understand that we can clean up the Bay."

Rousseff, who has seen her approval rating plummeted and is facing possible impeachment, called the museum one that was "done for our children, but also made for us." She, along with Paes and Pezao traveled to the opening on one of the new light-rail trains.

"I believe this will be one of the greatest representatives of the country we will have in future, and we will be extremely pleased to show it to everyone who comes to the Olympics," Rousseff said.

"Soon, the Museum of Tomorrow will be a heritage of humanity, and will transform the entire region here in a great place to express the history of our country."

Click here to view a photo gallery of the event.

Written by Aaron Bauer in Rio de Janeiro

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