Restoration and conservation of the University Palace of Bucharest, an investment of 435 million lei

One of the emblematic buildings of the capital is undergoing an extensive renovation process. The completion of the renovation of the first section of the University of Bucharest (UB) building, that of the Faculty of History, is planned for this summer, announced the rector of this higher education institution, Marian Preda. According to the rector: "According to the plan, this summer we should have the first section ready, the central one, opposite the statues, the section of the Faculty of History, which is currently relocated to another building and we hope that this summer the section will be ready, including the pediment and the eagle that is being put back on the building, after the bombings of the Second World War and we hope (...) that the Faculty of History will move, starting with October 1, to this part of the building. After which the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics and several other rooms of other faculties will be relocated, for another year, a year and a half and then they will return back and then the section from Letters and Foreign Languages and finally, Geography and Geology". According to him, the initial estimated cost of the restoration and conservation works of the University Palace in Bucharest amounts to 435 million lei, of which the National Investment Company will cover about 98-99%. He mentioned that the renovation plan for the UB Palace also involves the establishment of a University Museum, focused on the contribution of the professor and students of the educational institution to the anti-totalitarian, especially anti-communist movements. Marian Preda said that many of the traces of the events of December 1989 are covered by various layers of paint or graffiti, which were applied later: "It is a technical matter for restoration specialists to identify all the inscriptions that still exist, because, fortunately, there is a consistent work from the 1990s on the inscriptions from the Revolution, with photographs, and to find the best solutions for preserving the most important of them, in fact, all the original ones, and for restoring in various visual forms those that no longer exist." According to a press release from the UB, the steps to restore the building are intended to contribute to ensuring appropriate educational spaces for students of the University of Bucharest, to remove the risk of degradation or destruction of the University Palace and its cultural, historical and symbolic contribution to the cultural heritage of the region, to capitalize on its potential and to respect the right to knowledge of history and cultural identity. The project for the consolidation and restoration of the University Palace in Bucharest includes a series of activities and works dedicated to the conservation and enhancement of the archaeological remains in the inner courtyard, by arranging a museum space, but also a series of activities that will lead to the creation of a museum of the Romanian Revolution of 1989 in the room adjacent to the University Balcony.