Ioannina: three school buildings pass to the municipality

Three school buildings that belonged to the Agathoerga Katastimata charitable foundation of the Metropolis of Ioannina and had passed to the National Bank are being transferred to the Municipality of Ioannina, at no additional financial cost to the municipality and without transfer tax. They are the Pavlideio on Omirou Square, which houses the 1st Special Kindergarten and the 1st Special Primary School; the Elissaveteio on Kastrisogia Street, where the 11th Primary School and the 6th Kindergarten operate; and the Valaneio, which houses the 5th Primary School and the 14th Kindergarten. The agreement includes 900,000 euros for renovation work, at the National Bank’s expense. The buildings will be handed over with building permits, an outstanding matter dating back to the era of the abolished School Buildings Organisation.

The question of putting the school buildings’ legal status in order is not a procedural detail. Without a complete file and a building permit, a municipality cannot include a building in funding programmes, put out tenders for energy upgrade or structural reinforcement works, or proceed with extensions. The outstanding permit issue from the period when the ΟΣΚ operated affects a large number of schools across the country and has for years delayed maintenance work. The fact that these particular buildings are passing to the municipality with their file in order means that further works can be set in motion without a prior stage of legalisation.

The three buildings are part of the educational and architectural history of the city, as they come from the bequests of the benefactors of Ioannina, an institution that shaped a significant part of the public realm. Two of them house mainstream schools, while the Pavlideio houses special education units, where building requirements for accessibility and support spaces are greater. For pupils and teachers, the 900,000-euro renovation concerns buildings that are in daily use and which, because of their age, need work on services, window frames and heating. The mayor of Ioannina, Thomas Begkas, gave credit to the Metropolitan of Ioannina, Maximos, for settling the matter.

The municipal authority states that it continues to press for a building to house the Music School and for the creation of an Arts School in Ioannina, two requests that remain open. No timetable has been announced for the completion of the transfers or for the start of the renovation work, which in school buildings is usually scheduled so as not to affect the operation of the units during the school year. It also remains open how the sum will be allocated between the three buildings and which works will come first. The transfer does, however, also pass to the municipality the future responsibility for maintaining the buildings, a cost that until now fell on the previous owner and which will have to be provided for in the coming municipal budgets. More in the Education section and in the Society section.