For several days now, the fate of the central cinemas “Ideal” and “Astor”, which are located in rented buildings belonging to EFKA, has been causing new anxiety among moviegoers – and not only them – for several days now. Last November, the concerns of cinema owners and the public about the fate of the two historic cinemas were widely reported in the print and online press, but a relevant EFKA announcement at the time reassured cinema owners: “There are no planned changes. use of the cinemas Aello, Astor and Ideal (… ) in relation to the cinema Astor, the project of the organization is already being implemented, so the cinema does not change its purpose, the rest of the building is used by the investor and the store also operates on the ground floor. The first studies, which have already been carried out by the competent departments of e-EFKA, show that this is possible.”

However, a few days ago the EFKA service filed an objection with the competent Ministry of the Environment and Energy (YPEN), essentially requesting that the use of two cinemas (Aello not included) not be classified as conservation, since such a thing, it was said, would interfere with the repair and operation buildings in which they are located.

Declaring the use of its space as mothballed “would be a brake on expressing interest in using the building,” says EFKA.

But let’s go in order. At the end of November 2022, the position to preserve the use of the two halls was further strengthened by the unanimous decision of the Municipality of Athens, which clearly emphasizes, among other things, their historical and cultural value – in yesterday’s message from “K” the specific position was confirmed with the municipal government. Even more important was the double proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, accompanied by a corresponding explanatory report, in mid-January, which proposed (using the same language in both cases) to classify the use of cinemas as a nature reserve.

Before the 30-day deadline for filing objections by EFKA, there is also a double objection that raises different objections: in the case of Astor, it says that declaring the use of its space as a protected area “would be a brake in case of interest for the use of the building”. As for the “Ideal”, here the wording is somewhat more … abstract, even with reference to the report, which highlights the current attendance problems faced by the cinemas of the center: “… The salvation of cinema as an art cannot be associated with the characterization as the preservation of the use of the Ideal, since the residents of the area themselves, as analyzed above, state that the issue is broader and more multifactorial”, and the following is an indication of intent: “Sustaining the cultural use of the Ideal is provided in the contractor’s business plan as a theater.”

The contractor in this case is Hellenic Hotels Mitsis Company SA, which was awarded the building, which also houses Ideal, for the construction of the hotel. On the other hand, the Astor building on Stadiou Street does not currently have a contractor. The tenant of the premises and the owner of the cinema, Andreas Kontarakis, looks extremely worried: “All this time, the Ministry of Internal Affairs constantly assured us that, unlike Ideal, where the issue was more complicated, there were no problems with Astor. , the usage is usually saved. However, this attitude has changed in the last few days, apparently after objections from the EFKA, whose director we have repeatedly requested to meet, but to no avail.” According to “K”a meeting scheduled for Monday between all competent authorities (ministries, municipality, EFKA, hall masters) to discuss the case was canceled without setting a new date.