 |
|
Vladimir Filonov
/ MT
A view of the Manezh hall
on March 15, the day after the devastating fire gutted the historical
building and destroyed its roof. |
City Hall said Tuesday that the 19th-century Central Manezh Exhibition
Hall, which was gutted in a blaze on March 14, cannot be restored as originally
promised, raising anew the specter that the city has controversial plans
for the site.
In another indication that the nature of the project is
changing, City Hall also cancelled the results of a tender to restore
the
Manezh that were announced before the fire. The tender was won by Austrian
firm M.S.I. Vertriebs.
"[This decision] is a result of the fact that after the
fire there is no longer any talk about reconstruction and restoration,"
Deputy Mayor Iosif Ordzhonikidze was quoted by Interfax as saying.
"It is now an issue of rebuilding, since many of the
elements will have to be made anew," he said.
The nearly 200-year-old architectural gem has long been
eyed by city authorities as a prime spot for investment. However, the
Manezh
is protected by the status of a national architectural monument, and little
could be done with it before the fire. The building for decades was a
popular exhibition site for the arts.
Concerns were raised after the fire that the Manezh would
be converted into a mall with underground parking -- a contemporary kitsch
replica of its former self. City Hall immediately promised to restore
the
building to its former luster.
A debate on whether to dig under the restored Manezh -- to
provide space for parking as well as storage space for exhibitions --
was
seemingly laid to rest by a federal council, which voted against any
additions earlier this spring.
But Ordzhonikidze said Tuesday that plans are being
drafted to add underground space.
"These are worrying signs," Moscow City Duma Deputy Yevgeny
Bunimovich said by telephone.
The shift in the description of the restoration work could
be aimed at eventually lowering the status of the building, thus permitting
City Hall to introduce changes to the original structure, including the
parking garage, he said.
"This whole thing also looks strange because the firm that
won the tender actually said that even after the fire it was willing to
proceed with the project," he said.
Ordzhonikidze said the fire had prompted the annulment of
the tender.
Officials at M.S.I. Vertriebs' office in Moscow were
unable to comment on the annulment.
Alexei Klimenko, chairman of the Russian Artists' Union
Commission on Preservation of Historical and Cultural Heritage, promised
to
put up a fight if City Hall tries to modify the Manezh.
"Such changes will not be allowed at any cost," Klimenko
said, adding that enough of the Manezh survived the fire for a complete
restoration.
Klimenko has suggested that the fire was not the result of
a short circuit, as the city has said, but arson aimed at clearing the
way
for a complete overhaul of the site.
"They hoped that the wall would burn down with the roof,"
he said by telephone. "But the brickwork in the walls is so amazing.
It is
true Roman quality.
See also:
the original at
www.themoscowtimes.com
| 