The day of the groundhog for the Ministry of Culture

With the building of the long-suffering Acropolis it happens the following paradox. At the end of 2022, we did an extensive report on what is happening with this historic other legendary hotel of Athens on Patision Street at its intersection with Averof Street which remains obsessively closed while it has been completely renovated with money from Greek citizens.

Today, in 2024, we could repeat the exact same text because absolutely nothing has changed. The Acropolis has remained closed since 1989, first looted, then restored and left to the mercy of the Ministry of Culture.

In recent years we have been living the day of the groundhog and like others Bill Murray in the film of the same name by Harold Ramis (there, Murray plays an egotistical and popular TV weatherman who takes it upon himself to cover the traditional Pennsylvania holiday for the TV station he works for. While he can’t wait for the “chore” to be over, he lives the same day over and over again).

So we are constantly hearing the same government announcements as before Acropolis Palace it will open again, and indeed as a hub of cultural activity. In 2019, its restoration was completed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while in July 2020, with a special bill, it was renamed and handed over for the next 99 years to the agency ACROPOLIS EDGE which is supervised by the Ministry of Culture and Sports, operates as a Legal Entity under Private Law, has “administrative and financial independence and operates for the sake of the public interest according to the rules of the private economy”.

The last update we had from the Ministry was that it would open in 2022, however 2023 has passed, 2024 has entered for good and still nothing substantial younger than the front. And we say no noun, because on Wednesday 24/4 in the Draft Law “Creative Greece: strengthening the cinematographic, audio-visual and creative sector, establishment of a body for the book and other provisions for modern culture” some articles concerning the Acropolis will also be discussed.

What is the upcoming Acropolis bill about?

Basically, absolutely nothing! In the Parliament, we will certainly hear again the big words we heard in 2020. There will be talk about its opening: On the other hand, there is talk about the salaries of the President and the Vice-President. They will cost us 151,000 euros and of course it is absolutely clear that they will be appointed directly by the Minister (until the “meritorious” tendering process is implemented).
The law that the Minister of Culture had introduced in 2020, advertising that it would bring the much-desired life to the historic hotel, is being changed after 4 years of non-implementation.

More specifically, in the articles:

• Article 76 AKROPOL AKROS Board of Directors – Amendment of Article 4 of Law 4708/2020
• Article 77 Appointment and powers of the Director of AKROPOL AKROS – Amendment of Article 5 of Law 4708/2020
• Article 78 Staffing of AKROPOL AKROS – Amendment of paragraph 2 of article 7 of Law 4708/2020
• Article 79 Transitional provisions for AKROPOL AKROS – Amendment of Article 14 of Law 4708/2020

we read a lot and various things, but nothing about the opening of the Acropolis, about how it will be attributed to modern civilization and the citizens of Athens. Why;

Read the entire bill HERE

The history of Acropolis Palace

The Acropolis Palace was one of the most historic hotels in the Athens area. It is located on Patision Street, at its intersection with Averof Street, opposite the Polytechnic and the National Archaeological Museum and it is truly beautiful. You can’t help but admire its unique architecture.
In 1920 the Karadontis family bought the plot on which the Acropolis is built from the scholar Ioannis Botasi. The family initially approached the architect Alexandros Nikoloudis, but they were not satisfied with his designs and so they chose the designs of Sotiris Maiasis, who designed a building in the French Art Nouveau style and also designed the building’s furniture. The building was built in the period 1926-1928 and is one of the most important examples of this architectural trend in Athens.

The decline of the Acropolis and its reconstruction from its ashes

The hotel continued to operate until the 1980s, but without its former glory. In 1981 it was damaged by the great earthquake. In 1989 it was sold to a hotel group based in Vienna and in 1996 it was acquired by a Greek company. The building was declared listed by the Ministry of Culture in 1991, while in the same year UNESCO classified the Acropolis Palace among the most important examples of art nouveau in Europe. In 1999 it came into the possession of the Ministry of Culture, as it was bought for 4.58 billion drachmas, an amount considered too high for its time.

A contractor received 1.8 billion drachmas to renovate the building in 22 months, which did not happen. A legal dispute followed, which ended in 2006 with the Greek government becoming the owner of the property. The derelict building was the subject of looting, its precious chandeliers were removed, and the building was threatened by fires that gutted its interior in 2009 and 2012.

The building was originally proposed to house administrative services of the Ministry of Culture, but in 2014 it was approved by the Central Council of New Monuments to be used to house permanent and temporary exhibitions, contemporary culture actions, a digital library, screenings and lectures, a complete shop of the Archaeological Fund Poron (TAPA) and a rooftop restaurant.

The restoration of its decoration was carried out by the services of the Ministry of Culture, while the restoration of the building was included in the NSRP in 2011. The project began in 2013, with an initial cost of 14 million euros, which was reduced to 8.6 million with the tender. The restoration of the facades was completed in December 2015. As the project was not completed on time, a second tender was held in December 2016 for works totaling approximately €1 million, which were completed in February 2019.

In September 2019, a few months after her programmatic statements, the Minister of Culture visited the Acropolis and stated: “The intention of the political leadership of the ministry is to make the Acropolis available for use as soon as possible, with structures and organization that will not burden the budget and do not add to the bureaucratic complexity. It is noted that, when the Acropolis is connected underground with the National Archaeological Museum, the specific uses will also support the operation of the Museum”.
“As soon as possible” has not yet arrived, and the underground connection to the National Archaeological Museum has also proved unfeasible.

The Akros Acropolis

In July 2020, the Parliament passed the law for the establishment of “Acropolis Akros Center for Culture and Creation”. Based on this, the building has been granted for the next 99 years to a new entity established by this law and supervised by the Ministry of Culture and Sports: its name is “Acropolis Across”, and it has “administrative and financial autonomy”, while managed by a five-member board of directors.

The members of the Board of Directors, based on the founding law, would be chosen from personalities of the artistic, intellectual and scientific world, lawyers, economists or persons with experience related to the objectives of the organization or experience in the administration of organizations and would be appointed by the Minister and an employee of the General Directorate of Contemporary Culture of the General Secretariat of Contemporary Culture) and artistic director, both with a three-year term.

The strategic goal was, as the Ministry assured, the private legal entity AKROPOL AKROS to operate the space for the support, development and promotion of modern Greek culture, while it would also be possible to exhibit and sell artistic works, finance or even subsidize the production of artistic, creative works, the financing or even subsidizing the promotion and distribution of these works in Greece and abroad.

What is happening today, four years after the law was passed?

Absolutely nothing. Almost four years later, the Acropolis remains closed. The competent Ministers installed a Board of Directors, almost two years after the adoption of the foundation of Acropolis Akros, on March 1, 2022 (Government Gazette YODD 144/2022). The board did not even function, according to our information, and certainly did not produce any work. The AKROPOL AKROS that would be opened as a Center of Contemporary Culture, the “flexible” private law legal entity that would operate with “administrative and financial autonomy”, the employees that would be hired through ASEP, and everything else that the law described have remained only in papers!

The most impressive thing is that none of the leading ministers feel any obligation to explain what went wrong, why AKROPOL is still closed in 2024 and why the NSRF funds, which were committed to be allocated for the equipment of AKROPOL, they were never absorbed, according to the data they themselves have made public!

Financial…

The play “Organization and pilot operation of the Culture and Creation Center AKROPOL“, amounting to 3.7 million euros, was approved in March 2022 and was included in the Operational Program “Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation 2014-2020”.

The “flexible” private legal entity AKROPOL AKROS, with the Board of Directors appointed by the political leadership of the Ministry of Finance, could not absorb even 1 euro. The project ended on 31/12/2023 and the money was returned back to the EU. AKROPOLI remains closed, NSRF funds do not move, modern culture does not find a home and the area of ​​Patision does not benefit.

It is surprising how Lina Mendoni brags about the NSRA projects and the “efficiency” of her days. Unless he considers it “efficiency” to constantly commit funds to immature projects, transferring them from one programming period to the next, while depriving them of other monuments or cultural projects that also need them.

Of course, in the case of AKROPOLIS, this is not the case either: the project that was not done in the programming period that ended at the end of 2023, has not yet found another fund to join. Will the Minister be asked to answer for all this in Parliament?

So today, the building-jewel remains closed. Restored by the YPPO and closed with slogans and graffiti adorning its walls. No one is talking about its opening, there is no staff to open it, we don’t even know its board of directors, although we now know its new salaries.

Also, no one bothers to explain why the Acropolis project does not proceed on its own, when so much money has been spent over so many decades. Why does a building that has finished its reconstruction, and furniture remains, remain inactive? How difficult is it for the Ministry of Culture to understand the importance of the public property it owns and how important it is for the artists and citizens of Athens to be given this important monument?