Athens may lose historic Cine Palace to another supermarket
Excitement over the recent reopening of Cine Paris in downtown Plaka has been tempered by news that another historic Athens cinema may be converted into a supermarket.
The Cine Palace in Pangrati, a nearly century-old cinema located on Ymittou Street, ceased operations in 2021 following the death of its iconic owner, Mathaios Potagas. About a month ago, reports surfaced that the heirs of the property had reached a preliminary agreement with the supermarket chain Lidl for its sale.
However, the latest development comes from the Athens City Council, which passed a resolution last Monday in favor of preserving the Palace cinema, considering it “critical for the character, memory, and cultural wealth of the city.” The resolution, an initiative of the Athina Psila faction led by former Athens mayor Kostas Bakoyannis, was approved by Mayor Haris Doukas and the rest of the city council. The resolution states:
“We call for immediate actions to treat the historic cinema in Pangrati as a unified whole to prevent its demolition and the construction of any other building, to avoid the urban degradation of the area, and to designate the use of the winter auditorium as preserved, in addition to the outdoor section, ensuring its institutional protection as a cultural space, as was secured by the 1997 ministerial decision, which designated 47 open-air cinemas in the city as preserved.”
The key phrase “as a unified whole” refers to the unity of the property’s summer and winter auditoriums. The outdoor auditorium is already protected by the 1997 ministerial decision. There is also a more recent precedent: last year’s decision by the Central Architectural Council (KAS) to preserve the historic Ideal cinema could apply to the Palace.
However, in Ideal’s case, there was an expressed desire to preserve the cinema by its new owners, albeit with other uses, while in the case of the Palace, it is unknown if the supermarket chain can do the same.
The question now is whether the municipal authority intends to push the issue to the relevant ministries and to what extent they will defend the cultural status of the space. Could there be a middle ground, where at least the open-air cinema is preserved? And most importantly, is there someone willing to operate it?
