CINEMA MOSCOW OPEN-AIR HALL: MOTHER SEE OF HOLY ECHMIADZIN GIVES STRANGE ANSWERS TO DIRECT QUESTIONS

ArmInfo
2010-04-30 17:07:00

ArmInfo. The Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin is again trying to observe
malice in the public protest against construction of Surb Poghos-Petros
(St.Paul-Peter) Church in the place of Cinema Moscow Open-Air Hall. To
recall, in March 2010 Armenian clergyman Ter Mkhitar Aloyan qualified
the campaign for the support of the open-air hall as "somebody’s
order". "I am sure that if not a church, but anything else were to
be built in the place of the open-air hall, there would be no such
wave of protest. This is obviously somebody’s order",- he said at a
press conference.

This time it is the Chancellery of the Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin
that wonders about the background of the protest action. A letter
signed by Head of the Chancellery, Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan,
has found itself in the hands of the activists of "SAVE Cinema Moscow
Open-Air Hall". The letter was sent as a response to the request
of "Desnelle", a New York-based organization studying Armenian
architecture. The letter says: "It should be noted that in their
time Spartak Kntekhtsyan, architect of the open-air hall, and his
assistant Levon Vardanyan presented a project of construction of
a multi-storey hotel complex in the same place, but this project
was not implemented due to some discrepancies with the owner. A
question arises: if the author himself had an idea to build a hotel
in this place, why is the construction of the church there considered
inexpedient?". The letter also points out that at the moment the
open-air hall surrounded by "inappropriate buildings" has lost its
practical significance. The letter also stresses that the demand for
open-air halls has considerably declined while closed and cool cinema
halls and other hearths of culture are operating in Armenia.

It is noteworthy that the participants in "SAVE Cinema Moscow Open-Air
Hall" have managed to find the project of construction of the hotel
complex mentioned by the Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin. It is obvious
that according to the architect, the open-air hall was to become the
integral part of the hotel complex.

To remind, the decision on demolition of the open-air hall has caused
a wide public response. In particular, over 23 thsd people have signed
an open letter addressed to Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan. The
letter contains an appeal to cancel the given governmental decision.

The letter says that the open-air hall has been excluded from the list
of the monuments protected by the state with obvious law violations
and without preliminary consultation with specialists. As a result of
the campaign, the government took a decision to hold public hearings
on this issue. The Public Council has also come out with support of
the open-air hall: on April 28 it voted for repeat inclusion of the
hall in the list of monuments protected by the state.