Athenian industrial monument demolished

Finishing off what former culture minister Theodoros Pangalos denounced in 2000 as an «arbitrary illegal and barbarous» act, Athens municipality workers yesterday demolished the last standing sections of the old Fix ice factory in central Athens. The early 20th century building, on Patission Street in Galatsi, had been initially listed for preservation as an industrial monument by the Culture Ministry, which expressed great anger when the city council suddenly knocked down most of the ice factory in late July 2000. Built by the Fix brewery company, the factory was purchased by the municipal authorities in the mid-1990s. Pangalos, who lost his job subsequent to the partial demolition, had threatened to take legal action against the city council. It had eventually been decided to restore the badly damaged shell and turn it into a cultural center. But last May the ministry inexplicably removed the factory from the protected list, arguing that it would be too expensive to rebuild. The site will now become a park. The Association will also place its summer campground at Aghios Andreas, in eastern Attica, at 2004’s disposal.