Pelé Museum sees a boom in visits in the first month after the King’s death

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The museum that bears the name of Pelé in Santos, on the coast of São Paulo, has experienced a boom in visits since the death of the star, on December 29th.

In January, 11,349 people visited the site. The number is the second highest since the opening month of the space, in June 2014, with 23,960 people.

“On December 30th alone, we had more than 6,000 people present, double the monthly average of 2022, which is 3,663, and the highest number ever recorded in a single day. We have a new movement that we have never had before”, said Selley Storino, secretary of entrepreneurship, creative economy and tourism in Santos.

“There are many people from the city who had never visited the place. We arrived at the opening with a queue formed outside to enter, that did not happen”, he added.

Last year, the Pelé Museum received 29,308 people, 7,708 of them in January. With the exception of 2021, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the month is always the busiest, driven by the intense volume of tourists across the coast and the opening of the cruise season. Even so, the 10,000 mark had never been surpassed.

The best season was the inaugural season, in 2014, when 56,890 people visited the site. Since then, there has been a decline. More visitors visited attractions such as the Municipal Aquarium, the Coffee Museum, the Municipal Orchid Garden, the Tourist Tram and the Santos Futebol Clube Memorial of Achievements.

Administered since May 2016 by the City Hall, the King of Football Museum has always faced financial difficulties. This also caused structural problems: in the listed 4,134 m² mansion, in the historic center of the city, apparent infiltrations on the facade and flooding were common.

In 2019, the site was closed due to the detachment of plaster on the walls and due to a fall in part of the ceiling where the pieces are exposed. The prefecture even suspended visits for four days as a preventive measure.

“I’ve been in charge of the space for four years and we’re working hard to recover the infrastructure and give the museum a new look. There were times, in fact, when visitors complained about leaks, peeling walls and buckets scattered because of the rain. the charge for tickets is very much a function of that. Now everything has been fixed, we have added details to the exhibitions and created a feeling of coziness”, said Paulo Monteiro, director of the museum.

According to him, it was necessary to redefine some spaces: one of them was reserved for temporary exhibitions and currently houses the “King’s Gallery”, with 24 paintings by artists in honor of Pelé’s 80th birthday.

Another has more than 500 images captured by José Dias Herrera, the first to register the player’s arrival at Santos, in 1956. The photographer accompanied the star on excursions and throughout his career at the club.

In the last year, between April and July, the space was closed for general painting, repairs to the gutter system and roof, revision of the electrical part and improvements in lighting and furniture. Approximately R$700,000 was invested.

“Today there is constant maintenance, the museum is taken care of. We still have few employees, but we try to qualify them to help with visits”, said Monteiro.

To be built, the equipment received approximately R$ 50 million from the federal, state and municipal governments and from sponsors raised by Oscip (Civil Society Organization of Public Interest) Ama Brasil, the first manager of the equipment. At that time, it accumulated a long history of overdue account problems.

In 2017, now with the city hall as manager, the museum also tried to partner with the Argentine company Museos Desportivos, recognized for works in the museology area in clubs such as Boca Juniors, River Plate, Benfica and Juventus.

In 2019, Santos Futebol Clube also formalized a proposal for a partnership to manage the museum. The idea was to use the space to “detoxify Vila Belmiro”, relocating almost one hundred employees who work in the stadium’s premises to unused spaces in the museum.

“Recently, a terminal received 18 tourist buses that got off the ships. Fourteen of them stayed in Santos and went to the museum, and only four went up to São Paulo. The mayor has been very concerned with tourism”, noted Secretary Selley.

Events near the museum, located in Valongo, are increasingly frequent. In November, the city hall promoted an event aimed at the geek public, lasting five days. Weeks before, taking advantage of the World Cup, he had organized a button football championship on the top floor of the equipment.

“We want this, a festival running in Valongo and another in Paquetá, for example. There will also be a connection with the new municipal market. Cultural activities will work as a springboard for equipment and the historic center”, said Mayor Rogério Santos (PSDB ).

The expectation now is to keep Pelé’s image, records and achievements even more alive.

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