Tweet
ARMENIA FOREIGN MINISTRY TO BECOME FIVE-STAR HOTEL?
Giorgi Lomsadze
EurasiaNet.org
Oct 26 2012
NY
The Armenian foreign ministry building -- 14,000 square meters of
Stalin-era, colonnaded grandeur -- will soon be charging foreign guests
for visits. The building, perched on Yerevan's central Republic Square,
has been sold to Argentine-Armenian millionaire Eduardo Eurnekian,
who reportedly plans to set up a luxury hotel in the structure.
Many Armenians opposed the sale, arguing that the cultural value
of the building and its location make it better fit for a cultural
purpose. What does it say "about the image of our country, our capital
city, its center, if half or even most of the buildings at its heart .
. . are to be hotels, not centers of culture?" asked Samvel Karapetian,
head of the non-profit group Research on Armenian Architecture .
As in other ex-Soviet cities where commercialization is changing the
faces of downtown areas, many consider the privatization of state
buildings that used to house government offices (and hosted historic
events) to be improper and distasteful.
In neighboring Georgia, there has been a lot of carping about earlier
plans for the privatization of Tbilisi's old parliament building,
a structure with a prime role in the country's recent history.
(The privatization plans, reportedly, are now frozen.) In Azerbaijan,
the destruction of buildings from Baku's 19th-century oil-boom era
also has raised alarm.
But, in Armenia, Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian has defended the sale,
saying that downtown Yerevan needs more luxury hotels. "There is always
[a] shortage of hotels when more than two international events take
place in Yerevan at the same time," he is quoted by ArmeniaNow as
saying. Investors and high-profile visitors could use an extra space
to hang out, he added.
Plus, how could government officials resist a $51.36-million-plus
offer - reportedly, double the price for a square meter of property
in the area? The argument is that the building can help Armenia make
money and still busy itself with foreign affairs.
The government will use the funds to build Armenia a new, downtown
foreign ministry by 2015, Asbarez reported, citing RFE/RL's Armenian
service.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/66115
Giorgi Lomsadze
EurasiaNet.org
Oct 26 2012
NY
The Armenian foreign ministry building -- 14,000 square meters of
Stalin-era, colonnaded grandeur -- will soon be charging foreign guests
for visits. The building, perched on Yerevan's central Republic Square,
has been sold to Argentine-Armenian millionaire Eduardo Eurnekian,
who reportedly plans to set up a luxury hotel in the structure.
Many Armenians opposed the sale, arguing that the cultural value
of the building and its location make it better fit for a cultural
purpose. What does it say "about the image of our country, our capital
city, its center, if half or even most of the buildings at its heart .
. . are to be hotels, not centers of culture?" asked Samvel Karapetian,
head of the non-profit group Research on Armenian Architecture .
As in other ex-Soviet cities where commercialization is changing the
faces of downtown areas, many consider the privatization of state
buildings that used to house government offices (and hosted historic
events) to be improper and distasteful.
In neighboring Georgia, there has been a lot of carping about earlier
plans for the privatization of Tbilisi's old parliament building,
a structure with a prime role in the country's recent history.
(The privatization plans, reportedly, are now frozen.) In Azerbaijan,
the destruction of buildings from Baku's 19th-century oil-boom era
also has raised alarm.
But, in Armenia, Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian has defended the sale,
saying that downtown Yerevan needs more luxury hotels. "There is always
[a] shortage of hotels when more than two international events take
place in Yerevan at the same time," he is quoted by ArmeniaNow as
saying. Investors and high-profile visitors could use an extra space
to hang out, he added.
Plus, how could government officials resist a $51.36-million-plus
offer - reportedly, double the price for a square meter of property
in the area? The argument is that the building can help Armenia make
money and still busy itself with foreign affairs.
The government will use the funds to build Armenia a new, downtown
foreign ministry by 2015, Asbarez reported, citing RFE/RL's Armenian
service.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/66115