Helsinki City Council Rejects Guggenheim Proposal
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The city council of Helsinki officially voted against funding a planned Guggenheim museum in the Finnish capital last week, thus effectively rejecting the realization of the €130 Million (approx $139.5 Million) art museum, and ending a heated debate.The pro
Helsinki City Council Rejects Guggenheim Proposal
The city council of Helsinki officially voted against funding a planned Guggenheim museum in the Finnish capital last week, thus effectively rejecting the realization of the €130 Million (approx $139.5 Million) art museum, and ending a heated debate.The project, which was first proposed in 2011, had spurred controversy almost from the start, particularly due to its high costs, which were also named by the city council’s press office as the most important reason for the outcome of the recent 53 to 32 election: “The main objections to the project presented by Council members included the project’s excessive cost for the Finnish taxpayer; inadequate private funding; and the proposed site, which was considered too valuable for the project,” an official statement explains.“We are disappointed that the Helsinki City Council has decided not to allocate funds for the proposed Guggenheim Helsinki museum,” the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation replied in an official statement published after the decision. “We are immensely proud of our efforts for the Guggenheim Helsinki, including the many relationships we forged at home and abroad and the open international architectural competition we organized—the largest ever conducted… We are grateful to the many supporters of the Guggenheim Helsinki project—from the City of Helsinki, which first invited us to conduct a feasibility study in 2010, to industry leaders, fellow arts professionals, and engaged citizens—who advocated for it so strongly. We thank the City Council for having given its full and fair consideration to this project.” The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation had first presented a proposal for a Guggenheim Helsinki museum in 2011, which was rejected by the Helsinki City Board in 2012. A new proposal including a design competition followed 2014 (the winning design came from Paris firm Moreau Kusunoki Architectes). Three months ago, however, the Finnish Government announced it would not provide any funding for the project. A new proposal, issued by the City of Helsinki and the Guggenheim Helsinki Supporting Foundation, which was presented in early November, suggested for the City of Helsinki to fund the €130 Million construction with up to €80 Million (approx. $85.8 Million), and the Guggenheim Helsinki Supporting Foundation to contribute an additional €15 Million, as well as establishing a joint real estate company for the construction to take a €35 Million (approx. $37.5 Million) loan for the construction. As the principal owner of the new museum, the City of Helsinki would have also been responsible for covering the annual maintenance for the museum, estimated at €6.5 Million (approx. $6.9 Million) per year, while the museum operation would have been financed by the Guggenheim Helsinki Supporting Foundation. “Private sources” would have then been used to cover the license and administrative fees to the Guggenheim Foundation of $20 Million for 20 years. Already in January 2015 a survey had found that support for the Guggenheim’s Helsinki project was weak among city council members in the Finnish capital (as reported by ARTINFO), with 39 of 68 council members either not supporting the Guggenheim Helsinki at all or objecting to the provision of public funds. Read more
