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PRESS RELEASE
Monday, April 6, 2009
New Sports & Cultural Center Unveiled in Yerevan Suburb of Nubarashen, A
Cooperative Venture of AGBU and World Bank
With the cooperation of the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) and
the World Bank/ASIF (Armenian Social Investment Fund) program, the
Nubarashen Sports & Cultural Center was completed and opened on March
25, 2009 in the Yerevan suburb of Nubarashen.
During the opening ceremony, AGBU President Berge Setrakian remarked on
how incredible it was to see the opening of a beautiful new building in
a district which was first established by the organization’s founder,
Boghos Nubar, in the 1930s and today still bears his name. By
participating in the construction of the building, Setrakian said, AGBU
pays homage to Boghos Nubar and his ideals.
The plans for the construction of the Nubarashen center began in 2005
but they were finally realized when AGBU and the World Bank/ASIF program
stepped in with the 85 million AMD (approx. US$250,000) needed to
complete the final stage of the project. Forty-five percent of that sum
was paid by the World Bank/ASIF program, while AGBU provided the
remaining 55%.
Mher Hovanissian, mayor of the Nubarashen district, spoke about Boghos
Nubar’s choice of this site as a recipient of his largesse. He explained
that it was not an accident that the AGBU founder chose this locale,
since it had symbolic importance as a perfect location from which to
view both the Ararat and Aragats mountains–the former being a spiritual
symbol of the Armenian people and the latter, as Armenia’s tallest
mountain, a symbol of Armenia today.
The first floor of the center houses a gymnasium, while a hall for
cultural events is located on the second floor.
Established in 1906, the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) is the
world’s largest non-profit Armenian organization. Headquartered in New
York City with an annual budget of $34 million, AGBU ()
preserves and promotes the Armenian identity and heritage through
educational, cultural and humanitarian programs, annually serving some
400,000 Armenians in 35 countries.