Residents’ objections to the Platonos Academy park

“Yes” to his creation Museum of the City of Athens in her area Plato’s Academybut “not” within the homonym park state bodies of the region, but also the Hellenic Society for Environment and Culture and the panhellenic associations of town planners and land planners (CONTINUOUS) and the architects (SADAS). The case has reached the Council of State after appeals by residents, but the trial scheduled for yesterday was postponed to May. The appeals have been filed by 22 residents of the area and are supported by local bodies, such as the “Committee for the Fight for Plato’s Academy Park”. The appeals concern both the cutting of trees (which has been “frozen” as the SC accepted the injunctive measures filed by the appellants) and, more broadly, the reconstruction projects of the archaeological site.

Both the residents and the organizations that support their request believe that the location of the Museum of the City of Athens can be done in another place, as the area has a serious deficit of free green spaces and a surplus of old industrial buildings, which could accommodate a museum. “The archaeological grove, which is an archaeological site and a park, should maintain its dual character – as it was in antiquity – and continue to be “open” archaeological site as a place to showcase cultural/historical heritage and at the same time a green and recreational area with free access”, says ELLET in its announcement yesterday.

“The Museum of the City of Athens should be sought outside the archaeological grove. It is recommended to search for an alternative location for the museum, given that the surrounding area offers a significant number of buildings that constitute industrial heritage of the city, ideally to house such a museum, according to and correspondingly successful European examples”, says SEPOH in its announcement. As he explains, the implementation of the proposal that won the first prize in the competition will lead to the reduction of the free space of the park by 30% and the cutting of 580 large trees.