Bucharest derelict cinema undergoes EUR 10 mln revamp into cultural center

The Favorit cinema, located in the Drumul Taberei neighborhood of Bucharest’s District 6, is set to become a European Cultural Center, following a revamp worth RON 48.6 million (EUR 10.6 million). The project had been planned more than six years ago but only now did the process to undertake the consolidation, expansion and modernization work start, Profit.ro reported. The cinema is in a derelict state and has not served its initial purpose for 20 years. The feasibility study for its revamping was drafted in 2011. However, despite available funding, the work on the project could not start as the space was not transferred from the administration of the Culture Ministry to that of the District 6 City Hall. The transfer happened in 2015. The new three-storey space will feature a performance hall of 706 seats, plus 20 seats for people with disabilities. It will also have three conference halls that can also serve as spaces for delivering courses and workshops, of some 50 sqm each. A library, two multifunctional halls of 121 and 118 seats, and a café are also included, while the ground-floor hall can serve as an exhibition venue, according to City Hall documents quoted by Profit.ro. This is not the first Bucharest cinema set for a large-scale transformation. The premises of the former Gloria cinema, in Bucharest’s District 3, now host an events hall, with a capacity of 406 seats. The new hall required an investment of almost EUR 3 million. Bucharest mayor Gabriela Firea said at the opening of the new hall that the “investment program for cultural events in the capital is a generous one.” The capital and the district city halls support various open-air events in various venues in the city. In addition, Arcub, the cultural center of the city of Bucharest, and the Bucharest City Hall also fund cultural projects dedicated to the needs of the districts. They recently selected the nine community projects that will be implemented in Bucharest starting this December. The selected projects are meant to stimulate civic participation and increase the citizens’ access to public spaces and to cultural and community activities involving disadvantaged groups or those at risk of marginalization. One project, called Eu traiesc intr-un chibrit (I live in a match), is aimed at helping the area’s residents get acquainted with the neighborhood’s history. Another project, titled Multicultural Street, plans to get the residents on the Simigiului Street, in Bucharest’s District 4, to socialize regardless of religion, sex, ethnicity, age or education through activities such as theater or poetry workshops or a flash mob.