UNEXPECTED SOLUTION OF THE CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE Buying the 19 floor building built near St. Joseph cathedral to pull it down

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bucharest (ARCB) yesterday announced it would demand 22 million Euros in damages in court from the Ministry of Culture, for failing to delimit and register in the cadastral plans the protection perimeter of the St. Joseph Cathedral (which is an architectural monument). Developer Millenium Development received a permit for building a 19 floor building near the Cathedral.

The Archdiocese is demanding that the Ministry of Culture either restore the safety perimeter which existed around the cathedral before the construction of the 19 floor tower, or pay 22 million in compensatory damages. According to Bucharest Archbishop Ioan Robu, this money would be used to buy the 19 floor building and later pull it down, in order to restore the protective area of the St. Joseph Cathedral.

Ioan Robu and the lawyers of the Archdiocese yesterday said, in a press conference, that Millennium Building Development resumed work on the building of Cathedral Plaza (ed. note: development was suspended for almost two years, following a court order), even though the building permit expired in March 2009. According to the Archdiocese, development could not continue under the law, because the developer has not requested the extension of the license, as requested by the law. On the other hand, Millennium considers that the building permit is still valid, as it was suspended for two years, and therefore there was no need to request its extension. The Archdiocese maintains that the only way for the developer to legally continue development was to request an extension of the building permit.