In the municipality of Athens is granted from the Ministry of Justice the historic building of the National Printing Office, between Stadiou, Santaroza and Arsaki streets, through the Programming Agreement signed on Thursday morning by the Minister of Justice Christos Tsiaras, the Minister of Culture and Sports Lina Mendoni and the regional governor Giorgos Attikos Patoulis, with the mayor of Athens, Kostas Bakoyannis.

As his announcement informs Ministry of Foreign Affairs, based on the programming contract, today, the building is granted free of charge for 25 years by the Court Building Financing Fund to the Municipality of Athens, which also undertakes the obligation of its restoration and development, in order to turn it into a place to host exhibitions, cultural and artistic events, under the “umbrella” of the Municipality’s Culture, Sports and Youth Organization.

The aim is – according to the same announcement – to be a new point of art and culture for both the city’s residents and its visitors. Besides, under the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice, it will be created a permanent exhibition space for the “History of Greek Justice”since the Court of First Instance was housed in the building for many decades.

The building is one of the first public buildings which were built in Athens in 1834, the period when the capital was moved here from Nafplio. It housed the first National Printing Office and Lithograph, later the Court of First Instance operated in the same place, while since the beginning of 2000, it remained closed.

In his statement, the Minister of Justice, Kostas Tsiaras, emphasized: “A historical place where many pages of our judicial history were written is today being used by the Municipality of Athens, so that it can now officially, and with the necessary institutional protection, be this which it really is: a large part of the rich historical and cultural stock of the Municipality of Athens. The first Court of First Instance of Athens of the newest Greek State in Santaroza Square, passes, today, from the hands of Justice to the hands of Culture.

In the hands of the Athenian citizens, so that it becomes a modern exhibition center, a center for the production of culture and artistic events, preserving integrally and unchanged the special architectural, aesthetic and morphological elements of the preserved building of the Court of First Instance of Santarosa.

For Justice itself, today is historic. Because in this space, the first Museum of Justice will be created, which will host exhibits of our rich judicial history. I personally thank the mayor of Athens, Costas Bakoyannis, for his valuable cooperation, and the secretary general of the Ministry of Justice, Panos Alexandris, who, as president of TACHDIK, worked systematically for many months, so that today we can take this important step for the city of Athens, for the Justice and for Culture”.

The Minister of Culture and Sports, Lina Mendoni, underlined: “The participation of the Ministry of Culture and Sports in this specific Program Convention for Cultural Development indicates our political priority, that of the restoration, promotion and reuse within the urban fabric of historic buildings, which are protected by the provisions of the legislation for the protection of Antiquities and in general of Cultural Heritage. One such typical case is the historic building of the Royal Printing Office and Lithograph and then the Old National Printing Office, in the immediate vicinity of the Justice Square.

In the heart of the capital and almost opposite the house of Alexandros Soutsos, the benefactor of the visual arts of Greece – on Stadium 47 – the restoration and reuse of which has already been launched by the Ministry of Education – to house part of the Theater Museum’s Collections – the building has all the conditions to become a unique cultural landmark and attraction for Athenians and visitors to Athens.

By restoring the building under the supervision of the competent services of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, we essentially contribute to the rescue and highlighting of the special architectural and morphological elements of the building, and to the performance of spaces, with the aim of being able to serve the functional needs, for which the municipality of Athens intends it as an infrastructure for hosting exhibitions, cultural and artistic events”.

The regional governor of Attica, Giorgos Patoulis, said: “I am particularly happy because a historic building in the center of Athens, where the National Printing Office of Athens was housed and then the Court of First Instance, after it was granted by the Ministry of Justice, will come back to life and become a modern pole of culture, but also a space that will have a museum character. The physiognomy of the capital is changing, modernizing, like all of Attica, and acquiring a face that its citizens deserve. Congratulations to all relevant agencies. I hope that very soon we will have another building – jewel in Athens”.

From his side, the mayor of Athens, Kostas Bakoyannis, in his statement, he noted: “It’s a great day for everyone. This historic building which is an important part of our urban memory and which remained closed for more than two decades, will finally be restored with respect to its history, and will open its doors, this time as a place of art and culture, giving light and life in a focal point of the center of Athens, Stadiou Street. The road we want to be reborn and regain its lost glory. This development is a great victory for Athens. I would like to address, first of all, a big thank you to the Minister of Justice, Mr. Tsiara, for his support and cooperation in achieving this goal.”

Project and funding

With regard to the project, the municipality of Athens, among others, undertakes: The preparation of the project study for the execution of the necessary repairs, modifications and configurations, in accordance with the regulatory framework for the preparation of studies on monuments and taking into account the studies approved by the Ministry of the Interior, in order to make the building functional.

It also undertakes the issuance of the required permits and the drafting of the tender documents for the project. The assignment of the execution of the project will be done by the Municipality of Athens through a public open tender, in accordance with the current provisions on the tendering of public works.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Justice, among other things, undertakes the preparation of a museological study and the creation and operation of the Exhibition Space for the History of Greek Justice in the intended space of the building, as it will be configured in the final phase. The expenditure for the restoration-renovation project of the building, amounting to 2,524,472.60 Euros with a multi-year commitment, will be made from the Athens municipality’s own resources, however, the program contract provides for the search for new sources of funding, both national and European. Accordingly, an expenditure of 161,200.00 Euros is foreseen by the Ministry of Justice for the creation of the Exhibition Space for the History of Greek Justice.

For its function as a place of culture, the expenditure will also be financed from the own resources of the Municipality of Athens, either from additional financial programs of the European Union or nationally or even private donations.

Programmatic Agreement

The program contract was concluded between the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Culture and Sports, the Region of Attica, the Municipality of Athens, the Court Building Financing Fund (TA.X.DIK), the Culture, Sports and Youth Organization of the Municipality of Athens (OPANDA ). By decision of the mayor of Athens, Costas Bakoyannis, and after a suggestion from the other contracting parties, their representatives and their deputies, a joint seven-member Committee is set up, which will control the implementation of the Program. Its president will be one of the two members coming from the Municipality.