PG requested to penalize persons responsible for demolition of historical monument

The Agency for Monument Inspection and Restoration asked the Prosecutor General’s Office (PG) to hold accountable the persons who are responsible for the illegal pulling down of a building included in the Register of Historical and Cultural Monuments of Chisinau. The Agency’s director general Ion Stefanita told Info-Prim Neo that the building located at 10 Mitropolit Petru Movila St was over 100 years of age and was demolished at the suggestion of the building’s owners. According to Ion Stefanita, the building was knocked down on August 11. The owners intend to construct a hotel in its place. “We requested the PG to investigate the case and hold accountable those who pulled the building down and those who issued demolition and construction authorizations,” he said. The Agency’s director stated the chief architect Vlad Modarca and deputy mayor of Chisinau Nistor Grozavu are also to blame because they approved of the demolition and the construction of a hotel. “Nistor Grozavu knows that the law bans knocking down buildings included in the Register of Monuments, but abused his authority,” Ion Stefanita said. Contacted by Info-Prim Neo, Nistor Grozavu said Ion Stefanita’s accusations are groundless. “The authorization to pull the building down by preserving the walls was issued by the General Division of Architecture, Urbanism and Land Relations, the Project Examination Division and the Culture Division so that the demolition was legal. Besides, the building is private property,” Nistor Grozavu said. The deputy mayor also said that the company that demolished the building worked ‘inattentively’ and pulled down the walls as well. Thus, it is to restore the walls. Otherwise, it will be deprived of license. The building situated on Mitropolit Petru Movila St is an architectural monument of local importance. It was erected in the 1920s.