Bulldozers move in on a piece of football history

IT’S THE END of the road for the old GSP stadium in Nicosia as bulldozers began its demolition this week to break ground for the new State Theatre.
The century-old stadium was built by Greek Cypriots who used their stocks to purchase the land outside the city walls, described in 1914 as “broad and in an excellent location, and second only to the Panathens Stadium.”

But after the construction of the Makarios Stadium in 1977, the old GSP became obsolete and the final nail on the coffin was delivered with a government decision to construct a new ultra modern stadium close to Latsia.
The decision to demolish the stadium has sparked outrage among environmentalists and football nostalgics who insist it should be kept as a historical monument.

Work for the construction of the new £8 million state theatre is expected to begin by May next year and the entire project is expected to be completed in three years.

Speaking to the Cyprus Mail yesterday, Architect Charilaos Kythreotis said the project would be divided in two parts, the construction of the theatre itself, and the construction of an underground parking and a park.
“The idea of the project was to construct a state-of-the-art theatre that would stand as a reference point in the capital,” he said.

The new theatre will be equipped with an exhibition hall, library and bookshop as well as a restaurant and cafeteria as well as three apartments for actors. It will be specially built to accommodate people with special needs.
“The location of the old GSP could be considered as the centre of Nicosia and the construction of the theatre there would attract people,” he said.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.