A fourth international competition for the new Acropolis<.> Museum has been decided upon by Greece's influential Central Archaeological Council.
The decision to call for a new competition was taken after archaeologists on the council agreed that antiquities found in the immediate surroundings of the planned site for the new museum were too valuable to be ignored.
The new design, the council stressed, must take into consideration how best to protect and showcase the artifacts found in excavations conducted since 1997 (a settlement dating to the later Roman and early Christian periods, another settlement from the 7th century, with wells, pipes, and a Roman-era bath house). The decision was approved unanimously.
Also, a decision was taken at the meeting to expropriate four buildings that border the site.
Culture Minister Elizabeth Papazoi expressed concern on the decision to call for new bids and stressed that by the end of 2000 the selection process must be completed so that the museum will be ready by 2004, when the Greek capital hosts the Olympic Games. The budget for the project comes to 52 billion drachmas and will be financed by the Third Community Support Framework.
To date, some 500 million drachmas has been spent on the abortive process to get the new Acropolis Museum off the ground. The amount is considered effectively unrecoverable.
The new museum is expected to cover 12,000 to 15,000 square meters of surface area. An existing building on the site will be covered for the use of visitors.