NICOSIA mayor Eleni Mavrou yesterday vowed to get to the bottom of how the roof of Nicosia Municipal Theatre collapsed, as the extent of the tragedy that was avoided on Wednesday night began to sink in.
“It is a huge relief no one was hurt. Although the destruction is huge, we are greatly relieved we are not mourning victims. We are lucky nothing was on that night,” a distraught Mavrou told reporters.
Miraculously, the theatre was closed on Wednesday night, and no one was hurt in the accident, which crushed almost the entire seating area. Twenty-four hours later, the theatre was booked to host hundreds of schoolchildren for an end-of-year performance.
Labour Ministry inspectors spent the whole of yesterday inspecting the scene and recording the extent of the damage. Police cordoned off the theatre with yellow tape while CID investigators took statements from the architect and civil engineer involved in the building’s recent refurbishment.
Preliminary estimates of the cost of the damage are huge. Only the stage has remained intact, while most of the seating area has been crushed under the weight of the collapsed roof. From the outside, the building appears unharmed. It is only when you stand above the building that the extent of the devastation is clear.
Cyprus Theatre Organisation (THOC) head Varnavas Kyriazis said yesterday it was a miracle no one had been harmed.
The theatre, booked to host events almost every night, was empty when the roof collapsed. Even the theatre’s resident company was away for rehearsals at the School for the Blind, he said.
Last night, the theatre, with a capacity of 1,200, had been scheduled to host hundreds of schoolchildren for an end-of-term play.
Speaking to reporters at an emergency news conference, Mavrou said the Municipality had asked for a Cabinet appointed committee to investigate how exactly the newly refurbished theatre’s roof had collapsed. The committee is expected to be made up of experts, both local and foreign.
“I stress that the Municipality of Nicosia wants an objective and in-depth investigation,” the Mayor said.
“One way or another, the Municipality is involved, which is why we’ve asked that the Cabinet appoint an investigative committee,” she said.
In 2005, the Municipality appointed a contractor to refurbish and maintain the theatre, costing taxpayers over €5 million.
Mavrou said investigative reports often never saw the light of day, but that in this instance the investigation should take no more than a few months.
“Specific individuals are involved and it’s a specific issue which extends to the greater issue of public safety,” she said.
Because of this, the government would speed up the process to have the matter examined, she said.
“Just the thought that we could have been mourning victims today is why this report cannot remain buried in a drawer,” Mavrou added.
All documentation and paperwork linked to the building itself and its refurbishment would be made available to the expert committee, she said. The police had also been asked to guard the theatre around the clock for security reasons as well as to facilitate investigations, and Cyprus Scientific and Technical Chamber (ETEK) had been asked to examine the building’s statics, she said.
“It’s still too early to draw any conclusions or to apportion blame.”
She added that the Municipality had overseen the refurbishments which had been carried out in line with expert studies.
A. Panayides Contracting Public Ltd., the contractor of the refurbishment said it was ready to cooperate with investigators.
“The theatre’s refurbishment was a big project where technical and other services and numerous experts and companies were involved,” the company said in a statement.
The company stressed that the collapse happened at a part of the building where its main work was the replacement of the corrugated iron sheets on the roof and not the support beams, which experts deemed unnecessary to replace.
Government Spokesman Stefanos Stefanou yesterday confirmed that President Demetris Christofias would recommend the appointment of an investigative committee at the Cabinet’s next meeting.
He also said the government was in contact with ETEK as well as the Attorney-general over the matter.
AG Petros Clerides, who first suggested the Cabinet appointed committee, said it was too early to blame the catastrophe on poor workmanship or to call it a failure.
“Without the report you can’t say. In all likelihood it could be poor workmanship or failure but there could be other reasons so we need an expert committee to come to a conclusion and to apportion any blame,” he said.
In the meantime all events due to have been held at the theatre have been cancelled indefinitely. The Mayor apologised to organisers and said they would be contacted by Municipality services directly.
Mavrou said: “This is a huge destruction and it is not something that can be fixed in months or a year. It might even take years.”
She said the Municipality would try to find alternative venues for as many of the scheduled events as possible, including the use of the newly refurbished Pallas cinema by Nicosia’s Paphos Gate.
The state would also be asked to help restore the theatre, she added.
Deputies and political parties seized the opportunity to express their outrage over the incident and demanded answers about how it could have happened after its recent multimillion euro refurbishment.
The theatre was extensively refurbished in 2005, though concerns were expressed at the time over the structural integrity of some areas of the building.
n For information regarding cancelled events please call 22-797000 and ask for the Cultural Services.
THE Nicosia Municipal Theatre was completed in October 1966 by the late architect Pefkios Georgiades. The following year the neoclassical building first opened its doors to the public. Over the years it has been used for plays, dance performances, concerts and other ceremonies. It has also hosted the Cyprus Theatre Organisation’s (THOC) centre and children’s stages and performances by Cypriot and foreign artists.
In July 2002, the municipality appointed the architectural office of Georgiades – then Minister of Education and Culture – to re-examine the theatre’s refurbishment in line with modern needs and safety regulations.
On March 2005 refurbishment contracts were signed with construction company A. Panayides Contracting Ltd.
On November 25, 2005 the maintenance and refurbishment works were completed for a total €5,580,072.
