A great opportunity for Limassol to acquire an upstanding cultural centre, an emblematic building of prestige and a reference point for the city, has been opened by the decision of the Minister of Transport Giannis Karousos for the construction of a new archeological museum. The decision was announced by the Minister himself at the Annual General Meeting of the Limassol Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), to the great satisfaction of city institutions.
Talking to ‘’Entrepreneurial Limassol’’, Mayor Nicos Nicolaides spoke of very good news for Limassol, emphasizing the prospects opened by the creation of a museum worthy of the history and the possibilities of the city. "At a time when the other cities have upgraded their museums and a new one will be built in Nicosia, in Limassol the museum is faltering," suggested LCCI President Andreas Tsouloftas. "The fact that we managed to convince of the need to create a new museum is a great achievement," he added.
The decision, as Giannis Karousos explained in "Entrepreneurial Limassol", was one-way. The existing museum building is inadequate in every way, which has led to the abandonment of plans for a radical upgrade that lasted for more than a decade. The study prepared by the Department of Antiquities alone, then, cost €1,4 million. The present museum building, the Minister said, was built in the 1960s and today the exhibition spaces are not enough. The warehouses are full, and its location is unsuitable for bus access, while the parking space is very small. A possible renovation, stressed Giannis Karousos, would cost what it takes to build a new building (approximately €10 million), in a more suitable space, with the right specifications, with what a modern museum needs.
The Minister is already in contact with the Mayor and the President of LCCI to find the appropriate space, preferably within the boundaries of Limassol municipality, while the existing building will be left with the Department of Antiquities for other uses. The proposed sites will be evaluated in a first meeting that the three will have shortly. However, the location of the new museum remains a difficult puzzle The idea to build it on state land next to the Amathus archeological site has been faced with the objections of Limassol Municipality, which does not want the museum to go beyond its boundaries. On the other hand, the site of the old Nemitsas factory in Zakaki has little chance, as other government services have been claiming the area for years. A proposal for location in the green area next to the church of Agios Arsenios opposite Tsirion stadium has been almost completely rejected, as the area is out of tourist routes and away from the city center.
Locating the new museum in the Karnagio area, either on the seasides or in combination with the utilization of a listed factory, would pose a glorious challenge for architects However, the cost of buying pieces in the area is almost prohibitive. Alternatively, the Enaerios parking area could be proposed, which however is intended by the Limassol Municipality for commercial use. A past proposition was to house the museum in the District Administration building and in the area behind it; however there are no plans to move government services from the area.
