Restoration of Municipal Theatre high on Mayor΄s list of priorities

The new municipal authority is taking on the task of restoring the Municipal Theatre, following a recent inspection conducted by the new mayor Stefanos Poulimenos, who observed first-hand the extent of the waterproofing problem of the roof.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, he is expected to have a meeting with an external consultant to explore the possibility of drafting the tender documents for the study, so that the procedures for the restoration of the Municipal Theatre can proceed.

In a post on his Facebook page, he did not fail to drop hints about the secured funding that is in danger of being lost. He wrote: "Now, we are looking for engineers who will prepare the tender documents for the restoration study of the Municipal Theatre, with funding of 600,000 Euros since July 2020, which is at risk of being lost!"

Nikos Kalogeros: Rear side being insulated

The response came promptly from former Deputy Mayor of Technical Works, Nikos Kalogeros, who pointed out in a Facebook post that the outgoing municipal authority had tendered and awarded a contract for the insulation of the rear side of the Theatre roof. He said that the contractor has already removed the old insulation, and in collaboration with the supervision, will proceed with the treatment of this section.

He also referred to the contentious study for the restoration of the Municipal Theatre, for which the tender is pending. "Furthermore, the previous municipal authority secured funding for the preparation of an implementation study through the NSRF, so that the Municipality, immediately after this study, can submit a request for the reconstruction of the Municipal Theatre (approximately two years from today, budgeted at €10,000,000 or more with rough estimates).

The studies for the restoration of Corfu Municipal Theatre and the iconic San Giacomo building were approved and have been included by the Ministry of Development for funding in the Ionian Islands Region NSRF since July 2020. However, up to now, the image of these two buildings - landmarks for the island remains the same and unchanged. Specifically, the study for the "Overall upgrading of the Municipal Theatre of Corfu and the formation of outdoor spaces" has a budget of €600,000, and the study of the "San Giacomo building restoration project" has a budget of €200,000.

For these two projects of cultural significance for the region, the Regional Authority acts as the funding body, and the Municipality of Central Corfu as the implementing and tendering body of the studies. Indeed, in order not to lose the approved credits, they have been transferred to the National Development Program (NDP), which also foresees the updating of schedules for the completion of the studies. Specifically, according to the updated schedules, the studies should be completed by 31-12-2025, while the selection of contractors to carry them out has a deadline for 31-05-2024.

Only San Giacomo

Last December, just before the change of administration in the Central Corfu Municipality, only the tender for the preparation of a study for the restoration of the San Giacomo Old Town Hall was published on the relevant online platform, with the deadline for interested consultants expiring in March.

Architectural Competition

Regarding the restoration of the Municipal Theatre, the issue is complex, as Mr. Kalogeros suggests that a new architectural competition may be required before the study. As he noted, with the change in the law regarding public works, there is a divergence of opinions and interpretations between the Municipality's Services and the legal advisor of the company that won the architectural competition on whether it can undertake the study.

For this reason, the company's legal advisor requested intervention from the Single Authority for Public Contracts, where the Municipality was asked for expert opinions, the history, the old dossier of the competition, etc., with this bureaucratic process taking months.