CITIZENS’ PETITION

Скъпи приятели и колеги ,
По-долу е английският превод н а петицията за хотел и зала "България" в случай, че пожелаете да запознаете със случая хора, които не четат български език

CITIZENS’ PETITION
AGAINST THE ENCROACHMENT
ON THE BULGARIA GRAND HOTEL AND CONCERT HALL, SOFIA

for the rescue of the existing compound of the Bulgaria hotel, restaurant, coffee shop and concert hall at 4, Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd. in Sofia
from the intended addition of extra floors and turning the building into a Grand Bulgaria shopping mall

To: The Mayor of Sofia
The Minister of Culture
The Minister of Regional Development and Public Works
The National Council for Protection of Monuments of Culture
The Speaker of Parliament

Diplomatic Missions in the Republic of Bulgaria
Foreign Cultural Centres in the Republic of Bulgaria:
British Council, French Cultural Institute,
Goethe Institut, Institute ‘Servantes’
Appeal for support to DOCOMOMO International, ICOMOS at UNESCO

Ladies and gentlemen,
In the last few years Sofia has lost a number of monuments of culture. Not as a result of air-raids but because of the unscrupulous and profit-driven conduct of the authorities. We have lost the Old Town Hall, the houses of Mushanov (1922-25), Georgov (1895-1903) and Schwamberg (1911), the ancient theatre and many others.

This time, however, the building under threat is one of the landmarks of Sofia, dating back to the Modernist period – the Bulgaria complex. If there is a well-preserved ensemble of representative historic buildings in Sofia – it is precisely the Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd. It is there, that BT Development Services (BTDS) plan to build a compound of shops, offices and luxury apartments in disregard of the existing monument of culture, which is of national significance.

The Grand Hotel and concert hall, with a courtyard garden restaurant, was built after a competition for a building of the Civil Servants’ Insurance Company in the corner of Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd. and G.Benkovski Str. The design, by architects Stancho Belkovski and Ivan Danchov, won the first prize not only because it best met the functional requirements of a plot of land with a rather complex configuration. It also offered a skilful match between the new edifice and the existing masterpiece of Art Nouveau architecture, the building of the Civil Servants’ Insurance Company designed by three leading Bulgarian architects – Georgi Fingov, Nikola Yurukov and Dimo Nichev. Its dome has long become one of the highlights in the silhouette of the historic city centre.

The Grand Bulgaria compound (no hotel - just shops, offices and a residential area), as suggested by architect Pavel Ivanov, is an attempt to overshadow the elaborate detail of the adjacent building. It will dominate and render the dome insignificant, because the existing building will dramatically increase in height.

This gross disregard of history and the characteristics of the environment (ensemble, height, the skyline of the Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd., its atmosphere and style, the architectural detail) is typical of the nouveau riche of today. They are not ashamed to impudently lie that the aesthetic character of the Bulgaria Grand Hotel will be preserved, while modernising and adapting it to the modern city. The promise to restore the authentic appearance is blatant manipulation.

A landmark compound, whose coffee shop and concert hall have always been a magnet to the elite of the capital, a monument of culture of national significance is going to be destroyed in order to build a bigger shopping and office centre instead.

The traders have long become the masters of the monuments of culture in this country.

Given the clear lack of appreciation for the style of Modernism and the sense of continuity, demonstrated by the Grand Bulgaria project, and the prospect that outright kitsch will physically and spiritually dominate the Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd., we unanimously oppose the above-mentioned intent and ask the following questions:

Has the Grand Bulgaria project been co-ordinated with the National Institute on the Monuments of Culture before the Bulgarian Investment Agency decided to grant it a First Class Investor Certificate?

Has the idea of the Grand Bulgaria been co-ordinated with the National Institute on the Monuments of Culture before presenting it to the media?

Will the chief architect of Sofia allow this unprofessional architectural solution in the historic city center, in breach of the regulations and methodology for the protection of monuments of culture?

DEAR FELLOW-CITIZENS,
LET US STOP THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS BLASPHEMOUS IDEA!
LET US STOP THIS GROSS ENCROACHMENT ON THE MONUMENTS OF CULTURE IN BULGARIA!
LET US SAVE THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE BULGARIA GRAND HOTEL AND CONCERT HALL on the Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd. in Sofia!

Link: http://www.bgpetition.com/SAVE_Grand-Hotel_and_Concert-Hall_Bulgaria-Sofia/index.html
Contact: protect_heritage@abv.bg , protect.heritage@gmail.com