NOOOOOO! The city of Rio shutting down Saara?!?

Kind of a sensational headline, but that's how I first heard about it. You may be asking yourself (if you didn't read my previous entries or have never been to Rio), who cares? what is Saara?

Well, first of all, it is, at various times: my favorite time waster, the place to hate with a passion, the place to love for the good deals I find, the place to hate for the jittery unsettled hot humid over stimulated way I sometimes feel there, the place that, if I'm already in a bad mood, can make me almost psycho, the place to love for the old rotted buildings, the place I can laugh out loud by myself at the commercial that BLASTS over sound systems in the street; the one where they have a woman purposely (I hope!) sing extremely off-key, I assume to get people's attention...it works! Oh, did I mention that it's LOUD and CROWDED?
Well, I was told that the next time I come to Rio, it won't be there....what!!! I ran to get a newspaper to see for myself. It turns out that the city is planning on starting work on extending the Metrô line One to Barra da Tijuca, (rich people land). It's going to cost R$2.8 billion, and the city of Rio says that the land that Saara (also known as Uruguaiana or the Camelódromo) is on and other parcels are worth R$700 million to R$1billion. Now, they SAY that the legitimate businesses will be relocated somewhere nearby, on Presidente Vargas...hmmmm....we'll see.
The association SAARA (Sociedade de Amigos das Adjacências da Rua da Alfândega)...hehe...I just realized after all this time that it wasn't named after the land of Bedouins and their propensity for trading! had a meeting wednesday and are, of course, worried. They say that the area supports 10 thousand people, directly and indirectly involved. They're worried about unemployment. If the project is approved, they'll fight it in court, one of the founders said. He said they have their whole lives there.
Like I said, we'll see.