TIRANA, May 15 – The Alliance for the Protection of the Theater has filed a lawsuit against the Municipal Council regarding their recent decision to demolish the National Theater.
The Alliance accuses the engineers of the Institute of Construction of abusing their power, claiming that the proposal to demolish the Theater building was made without them having visited or inspected the facility. According to the Alliance, the proposal was based only on documents dating back to 2018, which lack essential elements for the control process; No laboratory analysis and no calculations on the central construction of the facility are included.
The Alliance said that the report which was approved by the Municipal Council, was an illegal document based on false data and called on the Prosecution Office to investigate legal violations conducted by the engineers.
On Thursday, the Municipal Council decided to demolish the National Theater during a closed online meeting, after approving a proposal by the Construction Institute in March 2018 and a report on May 13 this year. The National Theater returned to the spotlight this week, as the government decided to transfer its land from the Ministry of Culture to the municipality of Tirana, which the latter quickly decided to demolish.
Europa Nostra condemns demolition
Europa Nostra, which considers the National Theater as one of Europe’s seven most endangered heritage sites condemned the City Council’s decision, calling the demolition of the Theatre illegal.
“We are for the cultural heritage of Europe. Therefore, we oppose the proposal for the illegal demolition of the National Theatre in Tirana, one of the 7 most endangered cultural sites in Europe. The theatre is protected by national law and is strongly defended by civil society and experts ” Europa Nostra wrote on Twitter.
Furthermore, EC Commissioner for Culture Mariya Gabriel called for dialogue between the parties before a decision is made to demolish the National Theater, which the Tirana City Council sealed last night.
“We strongly encourage all relevant national institutions to engage now in a constructive dialogue with heritage stakeholders,” Gabriel stated.
DP leader Lulzim Basha thanked Gabriel and Europa Nostra for their reactions to the demolition of the National Theater. He stated that “the violation of the Constitution & the law and the provocation for the illegal demolition of the National Theater must be stopped immediately.”
