The historic cinemas Ideal and Astor in central Athens were designated as 'preserved in use' by the Environment & Energy Ministry's Central Architectural Council, the former reported on Thursday.
Maintaining their use as theaters contributes to highlighting these landmarks, which are inextricably linked to the historical, architectural and cultural life of the city of Athens, underlined the ministry in its announcement.
Concerning Ideal, the Council allows the use of the theater space and the Conference Center for other cultural uses as well.
A public awareness campaign had been launched recently after Greece's unified social security fund (EFKA), which owns the buildings the theaters are in recently filed an objection with the ministry against the exclusive use of the buildings as cinemas.
In 1997, the ministry had designated 47 open-air cinemas in Athens and 2 buildings that housed open-air cinemas as preserved in use.
