THOUSANDS PROTEST DEMOLITION OF ATHENS ART DECO BUILDING

Thousands of protesters demonstrated yesterday in Athens to prevent the demolition of an Art Deco building near a new museum on the Acropolis, reported the New York Times_‘ Lawrence Van Gelder and the Agence France-Presse. Neighborhood residents, supported by an international petition carrying eight thousand signatures, are appealing plans authorizing the destruction of the building that were approved this year by the Archaeology High Council and endorsed by the minister of culture. Officials of the new museum, scheduled to open next year at the foot of the Acropolis, say the Art Deco structure and another building, owned by the Greek composer Vangelis, obstruct the view from the museum’s restaurant. The neighborhood residents are also waiting for a ruling from the Ministry of Environment and Public Works. They are supported by the modern Greek architecture specialist François Loyer of the National Center for Scientific Research in France, who said in a letter to the Greek culture minister, Michalis Liapis, that the demolitions would be a major “error.” The 1930 Art Deco building was designed by Vassilis Kouremenos, who trained at the Beaux-Arts Academy in Paris.