FOLLOWING the intervention of Limassol City Council and presidential candidate Marios Matsakis, the demolition of the historic building that housed the Marios Tritoftides clinic on Makarios Avenue in Limassol was yesterday temporarily halted.
The demolition, which started yesterday morning, was stopped after it was pointed out that the private company which had purchased the building had not yet obtained a construction permit. The company has already been issued a town planning permit and it is expected that the construction permit will be granted in 15 days, when the demolition work will resume.
“The demolition is expected to proceed in 15 days,” confirmed Evgenios Hamboullas, Limassol City Councillor. “Those who object to its demolition should have mobilised before, when its fate was being discussed. Limassol City Council is not to blame for this,” he added.
“The structure has serious structural problems,” said Andreas Christou, Mayor of Limassol. “The option of preserving it has been ruled out as it was not found to have any special character,” he added.
The 2,524m² structure, however, is considered part of Limassol’s history by locals. It housed the gynecological and obstetrics clinic of Dr Marios Tritoftides, a prominent figure in Limassol. Many of the town’s residents object to the demolition for sentimental reasons. “Half of Limassol was born there,” one Limassolian pointed out.
The building was purchased 30 years ago by the state for what was then considered the astronomical price of £240,000. It was handed over to the Ministry of Health for use as the gynaecological, obstetrics and paediatric unit of Limassol Hospital. With the construction of the New Limassol General Hospital, the unit was transferred there, and the building was abandoned for years.
In the meantime, Limassol’s Medical Association (LMA) had been asking that the former clinic becomes the site of a medical museum. In 1996, the Ministry of Health had assured the LMA that this would happen.
However, the plans changed with the inception of plans to create a Technological University in Limassol. The state decided to include the site in the campus of Limassol’s Technological University (TEPAK). Experts, however, deemed the building inappropriate for use by TEPAK, as it was too far away from the campus core, so the idea was abandoned.
The state then sold the property for £3.6 million to Chapo, a construction company owned by Charilaos Apostolides. The building’s current owners plan to demolish the historic site and build a new structure.
