A total of 366 buildings in Bucharest are in the first class of seismic risk category and are marked with a red dot. Half of these buildings are danger to the public as they could crash during a stronger earthquake, while the other half would suffer major structural damage, according to data from the Bucharest City Hall.

Another 306 buildings are classified as being in the second class of seismic risk, which means they wouldn't fall in case of an earthwuake, but their structures might be significantly affected.

The City Hall has managed to consolidate only 18 high risk buildings in the past 13 years, according to the municipality's representatives quoted by Agerpres newswire. Another 35 buildings have been consolidated by their owners.

The City Hall also announced that it has consolidated 100 schools and historic monuments of public interest such as the Gabroveni Inn, the Cesianu House, and the old headquarters of the City Hall, and is currently revamping the Arch of Triumph, the Vasile Urseanu Astronomic Observatory, and the Nicolae Minovici Museum.

“In the Old Town, based on the owners’ legal documents, our institution will contract execution works for three buildings," City Hall officials said. They added that building or design projects were prepared for three othre buildings.

For ten other state-owned buildings in the Old Town, which need consolidation, the City Hall Council is yet to establish if the financing will be made with money from the public budget or by public-private partnerships.

One of Bucharest’s well-known theaters, namely the Constantin Tanase Theater, was consolidated with the approval of those who own the spaces above the theater. According to City Hall representatives, from a technical and legal point of view, the same situation is available for other theaters and public spaces. Thus, the fact that each owner has the right to intervene leads to difficulties in implementing the safety measures, especially as there are some owners who refuse consolidation.

A law recently entered into force in Romania, which doesn’t allow shops, restaurants and other commercial spaces in high seismic risk buildings. This led to the closing of City Grill restaurant on Lipscani Street, one of the biggest restaurants in Bucharest’s Old Town. 

Another well-known theater in Bucharest, namely the Nottara Theater, announced in a Facebook post that, under the new law, it would suspend all the shows and events scheduled to take place in the hall located on Magheru Blvd., starting November 23.

Bucharest clubs, banks and cinemas located in buildings with high seismic risk might be shut down. 

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com