In the last days of its mandate, the Firea administration gave permission to demolish a magnificent house at Dionisia Lupu street, 39, built at the end of the century. XIX, according to the plans of the architect Galeron (the one who designed the Romanian Athenaeum and the Palace of the BNR). Instead, the owners want to build a 4-story block. Mayor Nikushor Dan revoked the permit and has so far prevented the demolition, but the owners went to court and demanded that the cancellation order be overturned on the grounds that it was issued illegally. The court will decide what will happen to the building on February 14. This case is a textbook example of how the built heritage is being destroyed at the expense of the institutions that are supposed to protect it.

Developers were hunting for houses on Dionisia Lupu Street, 39-41 15 years ago. In 2009, the owners initiated a zoning plan, through which they requested permission to build a 9-story building on the land instead of two buildings. The zonal urban planning plan was not approved due to public pressure. In 2016, Corina Shuteu, then Minister of Culture, announced that the buildings were at risk of demolition, after the Bucharest Culture Authority issued an opinion in March 2016 for the partial demolition of building 39 and the complete demolition of 41, plus the construction of a 4-storey block on its place with the unification of the facade of the building on the n. 39 in the new building. The demolition did not take place, because under public pressure, the city hall no longer gave permission for demolition and construction. The message was signed by Dragos Fresineanu, director of the Culture Department of the Municipality of Bucharest, and the project was carried out by the ALPHA Studio architecture office, with the architect Vlad Kavarnali among the designers.

Meanwhile, in October 2015, the Bucharest branch of the Romanian Order of Architects, upon learning of the owners’ intention to demolish the buildings, submitted a request to the Ministry of Culture for the emergency classification of the building at 39 Dionisia Lupu Street as a historical monument. St.

The classification request was made on the basis of historical research by Cesare Mucenic, one of the most authoritative experts on monuments in Romania.

According to historical research, the building was built at the end of the century. XIX, and the facade plans were signed by the architect Galeron, and the architectural value is high, so classification was proposed.

“The analysis of the architectural, urban planning and memorial value of the building at 39 Dionisia Lupu street corresponds to the significant values ​​to be classified as a category B historical monument,” is the conclusion of the historical study.

The historical research also revealed that the building at No. 41 is not valuable.

On June 28, 2016, the Pro Patrimonio Foundation also sent an appeal to the Ministry of Culture with a request to urgently classify the house at Dionisia Lupu, 39.

The Ministry of Culture only responds on August 25, 2016 and announces to the Bucharest Order of Architects and Owners that it has started the classification procedure for the building at Dionisie Lupu 39 and that within 1 year it will receive monument status, so it cannot be demolished. However, the classification report drawn up by the Bucharest Municipality’s Department of Culture only proposed a classification of the building’s facades. On August 16, the Bucharest Office of Culture approved the classification in this version.

But the building was no longer classified, the minister of culture did not issue a classification order.

In 2020, the owners of the building came back with a request for the demolition of the two buildings at 39-41 Dionisia Lupu street and submitted a historical study, which was commissioned by them by certified monument expert Laura Illier (née Roca de Amicis). .

A historical study says the building is not valuable enough to be classified as a historic landmark, and it is unclear whether the famous architect Albert Galeron designed its facade.

• “Building A1 (house No. 39) was remodeled in 1893 by the architect G. Galeron – the permission plates are signed “dressé par l’architecte sousigneé, Galeron”. In most works on history and architecture, Galeron’s name is spelled with a double “I”, but a study of his personal file, compiled on the occasion of his award of the Legion of Honor in 1913, shows that the correct spelling is with a single “l”.
• In the analyzed case, given that the French architect also signs himself G. Galeron, we do not know if he has any relation to the famous architect Paul Louis Albert Galeron, who designed the headquarters of the National Bank of Romania, as well as the Romanian Athenaeum.
• We know that he also completed in 1893-1895 (that is, in the same period as the analyzed building) the house of Dr. Turnescu, located next to this house. (…) As a result of the accumulation of two “medium value” qualifications and two “low value” qualifications, in accordance with the assessment criteria provided by the order of the Minister of Culture and Religion No. 2260/2008, the building is below the possible limit of classification as a historical monument, which requires at least three qualifiers of average value,” its cultural value is assessed as low,” the historical study said.

On the basis of this historical research, the Culture Department of the Municipality of Bucharest, led by Dragos Frasinianu, gives permission for the demolition of the buildings on June 30, 2020. Without this notice, a demolition permit cannot be issued. In the case of buildings in protected areas and historical monuments, the most important thing is the permission of the Ministry of Culture/Bucharest Municipality of Culture, since it is these institutions that must protect the heritage of the buildings.

Interestingly, Laura Ealy was recently sanctioned by the Historic Landmarks Certification Commission for understating the value of the building for which classification was sought in another historic study, for a building at 1 CA Rosetti Street in Romana. The building was under threat of demolition, the classification was requested by the Neamts Department of Culture, the historical research was carried out by the National Heritage Institute, the classification proposal was approved by the National Commission of Historical Monuments. For underestimating the value of the building in the historical survey, Laura Illier received a warning, which she appealed, but the appeal was rejected.

Laura Ilieu was appointed last year by the Minister of Culture Lucian Romascanu to the National Commission of Historical Monuments, which decides the fate of historical monuments and the classification of valuable buildings.

Returning, based on the historical research and the conclusion provided by the Cultural Office of the Municipality of Bucharest, on September 21, 2020, the Firea administration gave permission for the demolition of all the buildings at 39-41 Dionisi Lupu street, including the house built according to the plans of the architect Galeron. The permit was valid for 1 year from the date of issue to the start of work. The permit was signed by the mayor, Gabriela Firea, and the chief architect at the time, Stefan Dumitrescu.

The city hall did not issue a construction permit, but the benefactors want to build a block there with two basements, the first and 4 floors. The information is contained in the March 2020 planning act.

Dismantling work began in January 2022, the building at n. 41, one that is not valuable. General Mayor Nikushor Dan went to the construction site and stopped the work on dismantling the valuable building at number 39.

“I agreed with the owners not to demolish house number 39, the most valuable. They have a permit to demolish both, the permit was issued on September 21, 2020. The owners agreed to find a solution so that the valuable building would be preserved and integrated. They demanded a town planning certificate for the construction of a collective residential building with two basements, a first floor, 3 floors and a removed fourth floor. This permission was not granted, so we have the opportunity to determine what will be built on this land and the preservation of the valuable building,” Nikušor Dan told HotNews.ro at the time.

The house by n. 41 demolished. It was of no value, but it was known because Pictor Artur Verona’s street sign was painted every year at the Street delivery festival.

On January 5, 2021, Mayor Nikushor Dan partially suspended the demolition permit for building number 39 only until January 20, 2021, citing the value of the building and the fact that the demolition would be irreversible.

On January 20, 2021, Nikusor Dan partially revoked the termination permit, also for building number 39.

The owners of the building, CDRV Associates, filed a preliminary complaint and asked the city hall to cancel the provision on the cancellation of the construction permit.

He said the document was issued illegally.

• “Cancellation of an administrative act can be issued only under certain restrictive conditions provided for by law, and in this case such a hypothesis was not referred to or argued (because in fact there is NO such possibility in a specific situation).
• Moreover, an act issued without specific motivation, that is, its own factual and legal reasoning, cannot be assessed as legal. (…)
• Under the given circumstances, it cannot be considered that the contested act was issued legally. The undersigned is responsible for material damages caused by the suspension of demolition works, an administrative act with a validity period of 12 months, which has acquired legal consequences and acquired a civil character, is an event that causes serious, future and foreseeable damages,” the complaint states. the owners’ preliminary statement to the capital city ​​hall

They said the investment is worth 3 million euros and they estimate that “the potential risks generated by these contracts and the losses that the underwriters are going to record due to possible associated costs could exceed 70,000 euros per month.”

Mayor Nikushor Dan did not want to cancel the order to cancel the demolition permit, the owners did not want to refuse to demolish the house and appealed to the court.

They demanded the annulment of the building permit cancellation clause, and on 18 June 2021, the Bucharest Court overturned the address where the termination permit had been revoked.

The City Hall filed an appeal, the next deadline is February 14. It remains to be seen what the court will decide whether the deed of cancellation of the building permit was legally issued by Nikusor Dan, and whether or not the demolition work will proceed in practical terms.

Beyond this process and its verdict remains this story, which clearly illustrates how hundreds of buildings disappeared from the “Bucharest of yesteryear” and how the Directorate of Culture of the Municipality of Bucharest and the Ministry of Culture, instead of protecting the heritage, are destroying it.

What kind of shareholders does a company that wants to demolish a house have

Since 2014, the owner of the houses at 39-41 Dionisia Lupa is the company CDRV Associates SRL. According to the online company verification platform confidas.ro, the company has the following shareholdings:

• QUAFFA ENGINEERING LIMITED Cyprus, 3106 Limassol – Associated 80%
• COMVEX SA Romania, Constanta, Port-DANA Building 80-84, – partner 20%

Comcex SA has the following shareholdings:

• shareholders natural and legal entities – 69.31%
• SOLIDMET SRL – 30.68%
• Dan Ion Drăgoi was the administrator of the company from November 2, 2006 to September 24, 2022. Now the administrator is Viorel Panait. Dan Ion Dragoi is the father of former Minister of Finance Bohdan Dragoi in the office of Mihi Rezvan Ungurianu.

Solidmet has the sole shareholder BULK PROJECT SRL, and the administrator is Drăgoi Dan Ion.

Two houses on 39-41 Dionisia Lupu Street have a corresponding land area of ​​916 square meters.