Photo above: Piraeus Skyline, September 2006
OK, time to get a close view on this one, as developments seem to take place in a fast pace.
"TA NEA" Newspaper, Tuesday 20 February 2007. Click
HERE to read the story in Greek.
After the lapse of almost 30 years to the time of this writing, the Piraeus Tower, the (in)famous incomplete 22-storey tower which stands idle at the port of Piraeus to this day serving as nothing more than an expensive advertisement board mostly for cell phones and alcoholic beverages, may see his completion day just before the end of this decade.
Originally the building was planned to become a business and trade center similar to the ill-fated World Trade Center and be operated in a similar manner by the Piraeus Port Authority. Although the building was planned to serve as an icon signifying the progress Greece was making during the years of the military junta (1967-1974), after the completion of its frame in 1974, it was never fully used apart from the first two floors.
Although in the past there have been many rumors both about the cause of its incomplete construction status, including an engineering mistake or miscalculation that in the event of the undertaking of any further construction work, the unfinished building might allegedly become "structurally unstable" with all the pertinent bleak scenarios, including a spectacular –and massively deadly- collapse becoming a possibility, given the fact that the building is located in the most central location of the port.
A timeline of the various stages of construction to this day include the following events. New information though, suggests though that this is not true. On the contrary, according to the newspaper "Ta Nea", following sources from the municipality of Piraeus, the building is perfectly safe but needs some work to become habitable.
The building can be operational just 18 months after the commencement of the completion works!!!.
-1972 to 1974: Preliminary works and topping out of the building (Mayor: Mr Skylitsis)
-1983: Cladding of the external surfaces of the building with glass (Mayor: Mr Papaspyrou)
-1997-1998: Various designs of a completed tower appear in the electronic and printed press. Click
HERE and
HERE to see some of them.
-2003: As referred to above: Last news about a long-term lease of the building from the municipality of Piraeus to J&P AVAX SA.
-2007: Mayor Panayiotis Fasoulas and the municipal council announce a campaign to definitely complete the tower as soon as possible, as quite rightly so, it is seen as an "open wound" in the most central point in central Piraeus.
Upon completion and
ceteris paribus, this building will be the stage for some significant "firsts" for the Hellenic Construction and Architecture industry. Specifically:
-The tower will be the first skyscraper completed in Greece after 1980 (year of completion of Atrina Centre).
-Completion of works on the top floor of the building (has to be 24th floor according to emporis.com floor counting system) will signify first time of completion works undertaken and completed on any building above the 14th floor mark (taking into account that the 14-storey Interamerican Tower in Syggrou Avenue was completed in 2002 and the 14-storey Athens Hilton Hotel as well as the 20-storey President Hotel were completed just before the 2004 Olympics).
-The tower will become the second tallest building EVER completed in Greece. Also, it will be well into the top-10 of all structures ever completed in Greece (as there are some chimneys in Greece measuring some 150-180m - this is reliable info from an engineer friend working in the Public Power Corporation (DEH).
According to the same sources above, a municipal organisation was formed in order to prepare and conduct an international competition to select a contractor to undertake the task of completing the building. The estimated time of completion is 18 months from the beginning of the construction works.
In the course of construction, a new underground parking will also be constructed, using grounds from the nearby historical "Mariners Fund" building (Ναυτικό Απομαχικό Ταμείο). Αlso, the restoration of the area will even expand across the street where a very historical landmark dating back to the middle of the previous century will be rebuilt in the exactly same location it used to be before it was demolished by Mayor Skylitsis in 1972, during the years of military junta. We are talking about the famous "Clοck Building" that used to accommodate municipal functions. The building used to have a clock in its top and thus the name, and was used as a meeting point during the pre-and post Second World War years.
After reconstruction, the new "clock" building will accommodate the meetings of the Piraeus municipal council, whilst all other municipal services and functions will move to the tower which is planned to be the absolute landmark of the Piraeus port. Also, part of the planning calls for a cafe/ bar restaurant at the top floor of the tower with a terrace observatory, as, according to the very words of the executive municipal officers "the view from the top is magnificent"
I prefer to begin this post with an old picture I took aboard the ship "Aptera" prior to sailing for Chania Crete, going for a hell of a vacation
.
It is the summer of 1987... 
...a romantic era far gone now, except from my memories and photos...
-Other pics taken during the summer of 2006, including the one below. . Click
HERE and enjoy.
Again, it is a pity that it took so much time to complete it. I wouldn't expect the building to maintain its original shape though. We may need some time to wait for the details to see the light, but not that much according to the municipal authorities. By the end of 2007 the contractor will most likely have been appointed with works to begin in early 2008!!!
