Colonial era buildings will be converted into museums
THREE British Colonial-era buildings are to be converted into a “museum island” in Gazimağusa, Cyprus Today can reveal. The plan was unveiled after a meeting between Tourism and Environment Minister Fikri Ataoğlu and representatives of the Mağusa Walled City Association (Masder) when discussions focused on the need to open a museum in the town.
Association chairman Serdar Atai said it was agreed that the three adjacent buildings — a former police station, the so-called Şömineli Ev (Chimney House) and the Gazi primary school — were all “very suitable to create a museum island”.
Meetings would now be held to draw up detailed plans for what kind of museum could be housed in the buildings, he said.
“It could be an art, ethnographic and archaeology museum which is needed in the town,” he added, pointing to the Canbulat and Namık Kemal museums as the town’s only such historical showcases. We have long been calling for a town museum and expect to see work completed and the museum opened to the public within two to three years.”
Mr Ataoğlu said there had been previous efforts to transform the Şömineli Ev into a museum and that a tender process had been completed which would allow the Antiquities Department to select a contractor for the work.
Under new proposals, the nearby primary school, which is the town’s oldest and dates back to the 1940s, and the former police station, now used as a storage area for archaeological artefacts, would be included in the scheme.