The Mayor of Budapest's Office announced to the MTI on Tuesday that, the Budapest City Court had ordered all procedures to be repeated in connection with the Government Offices's decision prohibiting the creation of a temporary crisis shelter in the Gerlóczy Street wing of City Hall.

The statement shared with the MTI reads that Mayor Gergely Karácsony decided that a temporary crisis shelter for homeless people should be set up in the unused Gerlóczy Street wing of City Hall, instead of the planned Budapest Gallery during the first wave of corona-virus related restrictions.

Gerlóczy Street in the 5th District, opposite Károly Boulevard (Photo: MTI/Márton Mónus)

The statement emphasises that almost all required work had been completed when Budapest Government Office issued a decision blocking the creation of the homeless shelter in the building, citing historical monument protection.

The City Council objected to this decision as it believed that the historical monument would not have been changed or damaged by the creation of the temporary shelter and claimed the reasons for the decision were unsound.

The building of Merlin Theater on the corner of Gerlóczy Street and Károly Boulevard (Photo: MTI/Márton Mónus)

The City Council welcomes the Court's decision and hopes that the temporary homeless shelter can open as soon as possible, now when it is most needed – continues the statement from the Mayor's Office.

The Budapest Government Office informed MTI of its decision to reject the City Council's application for a historical monument protection permit, blocking the creation of a homeless shelter in the listed building.

The long main facade of the building of the invalids, also known as the Károly Barracks (which became City Hall) in Városháza (Gránátos) Street, on the right Gerlóczy (Rostély) Street in 1900, photographed by György Klösz (Photo: Fortepan/Budapest Archives)

The statement released by the Budapest Government Office at the time stated that the Mayor had planned to open the temporary shelter in City Hall building under 9–11 Városhéza Street and 2–6 Gerlóczy Street. The building is a listed historical monument, standing in a conservation area, and world heritage site which is frequented by a large number of tourists, and houses archaeological sites of exceptional importance.

In addition, the building regulations of the Belváros–Lipótváros District list the City Hall in a mixed-use city centre area of the District, in which accommodation buildings cannot be created, including homeless shelters, and nor can an existing or part of an existing building be modified to provide accommodation.

"Furthermore, it is the position of the Government Office that the Mayor's idea is not well-thought-out with regards to the success of Hungarian tourism that stand on the work of the past years;" – reads the statement issued on 9 June 2020.

This position that the Government Office must reexamine during the new procedure following the verdict of the Budapest City Court.

Source: MTI

Cover Photo: The entrance to City Hall in August 2020 (Photo: ujpestihirmondo.hu)