Osama Rabie: Restoring the historic dome building at the Suez Canal Authority will not affect its historical and architectural value
The Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, Osama Rabie, confirmed that the project to develop the historic dome building at the Suez Canal Authority will not affect the historical and architectural value of the building, but rather includes investing in its unique location overlooking the canal to become an attractive tourist and cultural destination.
Rabie said in a press statement today, Friday, in response to questions that were monitored on social media sites about the project to develop the historic dome building at the Suez Canal Authority, that the Suez Canal Authority has a long history that it is proud of and always seeks to preserve the architectural heritage. Its facilities are enriched by the continuation of restoration work and their optimal exploitation without compromising their cultural and architectural value. These efforts were evident in the project to restore the first administrative headquarters of the Authority in Ismailia Governorate and transform it into an international museum that recounts the history of the canal..
Rabie added: The vision for developing the Dome Building is still being studied, as all appropriate proposals for how to invest the site and achieve optimal exploitation of the building are being discussed with the concerned authorities, considering that the Dome Building is one of the Authority’s main assets and protected by the force of law, provided that the development vision is taken into account. Preserving the archaeological character of the building and complying with the state’s ambitious strategy to encourage marine tourism and serve the development goals of Port Said Governorate, in a way that contributes to providing job opportunities for the people of the governorate, and adopting it as an additional source of national income from hard currency< span dir="LTR".
He referred to the restoration and development of the de Lesseps rest house adjacent to the museum and the conversion of the building attached to the rest house into a hotel "Boutique hotel", and other periodic restoration works carried out for other facilities of a historical nature, such as the authority’s villas in the three canal cities and others.
Rabie explained that the restoration project of the historic dome building dates back to 2019 in light of repeated recommendations from the Ministry of Antiquities and the Works Department of the Suez Canal Authority that there is an urgent need to carry out basic restoration work on the building to maintain its safety, which was dealt with immediately. By taking urgent decisions to begin restoration work for the building by the Palaces and Antiquities Maintenance Department of the Arab Contractors Company after winning the tender presented at that time to carry out basic restoration work under the supervision of the Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University as general consultant for the project, and with the requirement of the presence of a permanent representative from the Ministry of Antiquities during the restoration work, in parallel with the start of the restoration work for the building. The Authority is evacuating the building and moving the workshops, sub-warehouses and marinas of the marine units to other areas, a measure that did not affect the navigation rates in the canal, which last year achieved the highest transit rate in its history with 26,434 ships crossing during the year 2023< /span> .
The head of the authority pointed out that the process of evacuating the dome building took place in several separate stages to ensure that the workflow and ship transit movement were not affected, as alternative work spaces were provided in parallel with preparing the El Gouna area in Port Fouad to be a permanent main center for managing transit traffic. Ships in the northern sector, which coincides with the necessary expansions in accordance with the requirements for the operation of the East Branch and the entry into service of the berths of the General Authority for the Economic Zone, which makes the transfer of the movement headquarters, the operation of launches and the movement of guides to East El Gouna a necessary and irreplaceable matter..
Stressed spring, The Suez Canal is committed to its societal responsibilities by announcing all of its contracts in various forms, including contracts, memorandums of understanding, etc., while disclosing the terms of the contracts and their importance, which is what the Authority undertakes to do in announcing the details of the project to develop the dome building immediately after completing studies. Technical feasibility and agreement on the full plan of the project before the start of implementation, provided that the announcement is made in an expanded press conference in the presence of all concerned parties and the legislative and executive leadership in the governorate, indicating that upholding the national interest, preserving the capabilities of the Authority and developing its assets is the basis of all contracts concluded by the Authority, which cannot be affected by any Under any circumstances, Egyptian sovereignty over the canal and all its facilities are protected in accordance with the Egyptian Constitution and what is stipulated in Article 43, which reads " The state is committed to protecting, developing and preserving the Suez Canal as an international waterway owned by it. It is also committed to developing the canal sector as a distinguished economic center.".
