[4] The avenue received its current name in 1943, in honor of the Aveirense Lourenço Simões Peixinho, president of Aveiro Municipal Chamber for 24 consecutive years (1918–1942) and main driver for its construction.

[5] Despite undergoing a long construction and development process (1918–1935), Doutor Lourenço Peixinho Avenue quickly established itself as the main urban center of services and commerce in Aveiro, having undergone several alterations and requalifications over the years.

This issue was addressed by Aveiro Municipal Chamber, and it was initially proposed to create a connecting street between the station and the city center, for the advantages this would have for commerce, industry and agriculture.

[13] The first concrete proposal for the opening of a direct route between the railway station and the city center appeared in 1895, by Jaime Magalhães Lima, president of Aveiro Municipal Chamber (1893–1895).

[5] To the pressures that the Government was suffering to give greater technical and financial support to urban upgrading operations, it responded with the creation of the Ministry of Public Works and, in 1865, with the launching of the General Improvement Plans (Planos Gerais de Melhoramentos).

In this moment, the newly sworn-in president of Aveiro Chamber, Lourenço Simões Peixinho, made known his broad program for local improvements, within which stood out a solution for the opening of the much desired avenue.

[5] The project of the Avenue was approved in a Municipal Chamber meeting on 7 February 1918 and its governmental approval was published in the Diário do Governo on 26 April of the same year: The Portuguese Republic Government, through the Minister of Commerce, agreeing with the opinion of the Higher Council of Public Works, orders the approval (for the purposes of the law of July 26, 1912, and article 94º, § 14º, of the law of August 7, 1913) of the project and respective budget in the amount detailed on February 28 of this year, relating to the construction work of the avenue, between the city of Aveiro (city center) and the railway station, in the extension of 1,064.32 m.This project, in addition to the motivations already mentioned, indicated a greater concern on the Municipal Chamber's part in the future nature of the Avenue, a greater importance given to the (desired) urbanity for a road of this nature, a desire for more active participation in the process of conformation of the built environment.

[19] The beginning of the works for the opening of the Avenue took place on 3 June 1918, on a portion of land that had been part of Manuel Mendes Leite's residence,[20] and was greeted with "burning of firecrackers, salves of mortars and peals of bells".

Due to the lack of paving, at busy times and on strong wind days, dust would rise and form clouds; and complaints in the press were constant, demanding the irrigation service to be intensified in this area, to prevent these situations from occurring.

Its location was intended to be noble and in an area with exposure, having the Marquês de Pombal Square as first possibility; but its installation on the Avenue would, on the one hand, confirm the importance acquired by it and, on the other, enrich its public space.

[19][34] Despite all the constraints related to the delay of the works, the Avenue became a privileged place in the context of the city and destination of the inhabitants in leisure time: (...) the favorite walk of the Aveirenses, either in the calm summer nights, or in the radiant days of sun, in winter.Gradually, a recreational equipment began to appear on this artery: cafes, restaurants, esplanades, and a movie theater.

[40] This measure, revealing the importance given at the time to the Avenue and the urban space, happened in addition to a previous one (July 1944), in which owners were ordered to repair and whitewash the fronts of their buildings, as well as the walls or gables visible from the public thoroughfare within 90 days.

His great name lives and will always live on, and will remain respected and admired, closely linked to his remarkable work as mayor of the city of Aveiro for 24 years, work that was remarkable and very valuable for the growth of the city and county and also connected to his extraordinary action in the provedoria of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia.Following his death, a proposal was presented at the ordinary meeting of the Municipal Chamber on 11 March 1943, signed by Francisco Pereira Lopes and approved by acclamation, proposing that the then Central Avenue be given the name by which it is currently known, Doutor Lourenço Peixinho Avenue.

[5] Thus, the Municipal Master Plan (Plano Diretor Municipal – PDM) highlighted the Avenue's recognized and attributed importance, as a centralizing axis of urban living in social, commercial and service terms; as the basis of the circulation system; as a definer of an image for the city; and as the main axis of the agglomerate: (...) occasional and exceptional commerce is located, especially, along Dr. Lourenço Peixinho Avenue, in the central part of the city, on both banks of the canal, and also along the older roads.

For the complex located between this artery and Almirante Cândido dos Reis Street, it was sought an implantation that would follow the direction of the lots, at an accentuated angle in relation to the Avenue, maintaining the first floor façade plan in alignment with the others.

[5] Regarding the Avenue's public space, it is currently verified that the central separating area has lost its value as a social space, privileged for pedestrian use, due to the growing importance of other uses and other priorities for the city: in a first phase, it gave way to automobile circulation that, breaking its continuity, interrupted it by sectors, in order to allow traffic towards the transversal streets; in a second phase, in 1999, the changes were significant, for its conversion into a bikeway, inserted in the BUGA (Bicicletas de Utilização Gratuita de Aveiro) free use bicycle project, a pioneering initiative in Portugal started in October of that year, but whose results were not the expected.

[50][51] From the 1980s, the euphoria and growth, caused by the country's good economic moment and the freedom feeling from the Carnation Revolution, provided more openness regarding the characteristics of the buildings to be built on this artery.

Contrary to what was previously proposed and realized, the tunnel allowed road traffic coming from the other side of the line to be drained directly onto the Avenue, further breaking the concept of the central area and public promenade.

[57] With the arrival of thousands of tourists (many of them, through the railway station), the Dr. Lourenço Peixinho Avenue became again the main "gateway" to the city, as originally planned, which resulted in new investments in the buildings and equipment inserted in it.

[19][73] The Pensão Avenida, whose first project dates back to 1924, played an important role in the consolidation of Dr. Lourenço Peixinho Avenue, as it was one of the first buildings to integrate the new artery in the old city structure.

[5] The Casa Gervásio Aleluia (1929), designed by the architect Francisco Rocha, currently houses the Selectarte pastry shop and the headquarters of the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) of Aveiro.

[19] The performance hall had a capacity for 1,400 spectators, according to the second page of weekly newspaper O Democrata of 1949: "The show room holds 1,400 people who can be distributed by the audience, first and second balconies and four boxes.

It is all in modern lines with high ceilings, indirect light, and there are several halls, among which the party room on the second floor stands out, exquisitely decorated, with a sculpture in the middle (...) and a chandelier and monumental gate where one can admire the happy combination of wrought iron art with ceramic motifs from Fábricas Aleluia.

Outside, one can notice a composition of modern architecture, but without any exaggeration of reinforced concrete (...) One can see iron balconies, windows and circular openings, breaking the monotony of the big walls in a happy combination of the current taste, with memories of national styles (...).

[5] In 1948, the construction of a new modernist garage began on the Avenue: the Garagem Central, by the firm Vieira, Tavares e Cª, Lda, which appeared to respond to the increase of traffic in Aveiro.

Its urban insertion was intelligent, taking advantage of its location in a narrow corner and exploiting this characteristic, placing at the apex the entrance and vertical access, stairs and elevator, the first in the city of Aveiro.

The specificity of its location, with façades on three sides (Avenue, Comandante Rocha Cunha Street and Estação Square), together with the irregular configuration of the lots, would condition the solution presented for the complex.

This division was accomplished through using volumes, essential distinctive element of this Building, base of its architecture, defining several bodies: on the first floor, a transparent and curved volume that, by its situation in corner, defined the commercial area and established the relationship with the street; an element, reading a thick visor, followed the curve and covers this area, separating it from the offices and forming a kind of balcony; the housing part was developed with a distinct volumetry, parallel to the street, although away from the relationship with them.

From this year on, a strong urban front began to emerge, whose characteristics obeyed the indications of the PDM in terms of height and type of occupation, although the construction took place before this was officially approved.

[19] In parallel with the PDM guidelines, there was also a great concern of the Aveiro Municipal Chamber regarding the design of the elevations, in order to obtain an overall image with the neighboring buildings, namely at the level of the height of the roofs and ridges.