CONSTRUCTION OF LARGEST ARMENIAN CULTURAL CENTER IN EUROPE COMPLETED IN ODESA

BSANNA NEWS
Nov 19 2008
Ukraine

ODESA, November 18 /UKRINFORM/. Construction of the largest Armenian
cultural center in Europe finished in Odesa. Its official opening is
supposed to take place on November 30. Head of the Armenian Diaspora
in Odesa region Samvel Tigranyan told about the new complex which
has no analogues.

Construction of the center has been held for over three years. But the
idea of creation of such a complex appeared long time ago. In early 90s
when on the Gagarin plateau in Odesa the Armenian church appeared, the
first church constructed outside Armenia on the post-Soviet territory,
the decision was made to establish the center here as well.

Armenians of Odesa regions were not the only ones who assisted
in construction. People from Armenia, representatives of Armenian
communities from various regions and countries helped us as well. The
assistance was not financial but the technological one. We were
granted construction materials, constructors came. There were a lot of
enthusiasts. Generally, the word "enthusiasm" is the main among those
characterizing everything that was taking place for over three years.

The total area of the complex amounts to 4,000 sq. meters. In the lower
part of the building there will be a gym, fitness-club, locker rooms,
trainers’ and doctors’ rooms, other premises related to sport. There
will be a concert hall with 420 places, a hall for solemn ceremonies
(weddings, christening parties etc.) for 200 places will be situated
on the ground floor. There it will be possible to try the national
cuisine. The first floor will be occupied by a school, which will
be not only a secondary one. There will be art, music and craft
classes teaching traditional national crafts, such as pottery, carpet
weaving etc. We are also holding negotiations with the Armenian Foreign
Ministry about opening the Armenian Consulate General for Armenians of
south Ukraine and Moldova here, on the ground floor, in the premises
with a separate entrance. The second floor will include several hotel
rooms designed for VIP guests, offices of leadership of the community,
head of the church council, meeting hall and other service premises.

We intend to pay special attention to our educational center. The
educational basis is the reason of center’s establishment. We are
open for everyone and we want representatives of other nationalities,
apart from Armenians, interested in our rich ancient culture to attend
the center. We would like to make our own contribution to science
development in the region. We have a common vision of educational
development and filling our center and we will implement our plans as
possible. In this connection, it is worth noting that our center will
be named after Odesa famous scientist Levon Khachikovich Kalustiants
who had been working in the Mechnikov Odesa National University for
many years.

In the beginning we did not aim to open the biggest European
national-cultural center. Later we started to compare and realized
that the Odesa complex is bigger than the similar structures in Russia
and France with historically largest European diasporas. And this is
right: Ukraine is a unique country and Odesa is a unique city.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress