An autopsy on the maintenance and restoration project of the State Conservatory building in Thessaloniki (KOTH), after the installation of the contractor, was carried out by the Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni, head of service level. The project concerns the maintenance and restoration of the building that houses the State Conservatory of Thessaloniki, owned by EFKA (formerly IKA), which was granted for use by the Ministry of Culture in 2022.

As stated in a relevant announcement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “the study addresses all architectural and functional issues of the building, with new electromechanical installations, fire safety and fire extinguishing systems. The building is upgraded energy-wise and earthquake-proofed, in accordance with the applicable provisions and regulations.” In fact, as pointed out, due to the special use of the building, special acoustic and lighting studies were prepared, while a high-quality recording studio and new arrangements for the teaching areas are planned. At the same time, accessibility issues are resolved both externally and internally with the construction of an elevator. The aim of the renewed architectural program is for the State Conservatory of Thessaloniki to be able to respond to modern functional educational and cultural requirements. The project, with a budget of 5,500,000 euros, is being carried out by the Service for Newer Monuments and Technical Projects of Central Macedonia of the Ministry of Culture, with resources from the Recovery and Resilience Fund.

“Rare example of architecture, hyperlocal radiation”

“It is with great pleasure that we are today at the construction site of the State Conservatory of Thessaloniki. Another project of the Ministry of Culture, implemented within the urban fabric of Thessaloniki. With respect to the multiple values ​​and the material evidence that it conveys over time, we save one of the most beautiful buildings in Thessaloniki, a rare example of architecture, with a strong positive urban footprint, in the center of the city. Our goal is to give the Conservatory a modern, functional and universally accessible building” said Culture Minister Lina Mendoni.

“The State Conservatory of Thessaloniki – the only state conservatory in the country – after the completion of the project, will return to the radically restored building, to continue to carry out its important educational and cultural work” noted the minister and added: “The Ministry of Culture, through its competent services, implements, today in Thessaloniki, the largest program of cultural infrastructure, with the restoration and highlighting of important monuments, from all periods, ancient, Byzantine and more recent, but also with projects of transformation and modernization of the cultural city ​​bodies, with a total budget of more than 50,000,000 euros. And in the case of Thessaloniki, we are following our strategic plan: The restoration of historical and monumental buildings and their inclusion in the cultural life of large urban centers”.

The history of the building

It is noted that the building of the State Conservatory of Thessaloniki is located in the historical district of “Frangomahala”, in the center of the city. The original shell was erected around 1840 and was the mansion of the Abbott Brothers merchants. In 1864, the Ottoman Imperial Bank established a branch in Thessaloniki, which operated in the Abbott mansion. In 1903, members of the Bulgarian extremist group, the “Varkarides”, bombed the shell of the mansion with explosives and dynamite. A fire broke out in the building, and except for part of the main facade and its enclosure, it was completely destroyed. In 1904, it was rebuilt to once again house the Ottoman Imperial Bank. The building was one of the few that was saved from the great fire in 1917, in Thessaloniki. Only a section of the ground floor ceilings, in the western section, was affected. This was followed by the conservation and expansion studies of the building by the architects J. Pleyber (1922) and E. Modiano (1924-25), which were partially implemented. In the period 1930-1935, extensive interventions were carried out in the building. The Ottoman Bank continued to operate until 1946 and in 1949 sold the building to IKA. In 1950, the IKA also carried out extensive operations in order to establish its services there. The Thessaloniki earthquake of 1978 caused a lot of damage to the building, which was deemed unsuitable, so the IKA services were moved elsewhere.

In 1983, the building was granted to the State Conservatory of Thessaloniki. As part of its transformation into a Conservatory, the necessary interventions were made and since 1987 the State Conservatory of Thessaloniki has been housed in the historic building on Frakon Street, where it has been operating continuously. The building was handed over to the Ministry of Culture by EFKA in 2022.

The Minister of Culture was accompanied to the autopsy by the Secretary General of Culture Giorgos Didaskalou, the head of the Service of New Monuments and Technical Projects of Central Macedonia Sofia Christoforidou, the president of the Board of Directors. Nikolaos Avdelas, the director of the OCTH, George-Iulios Papadopoulos, as well as officials of the YPPO.