In the heart of Port Said, one of the Suez Canal cities, stands the Suez Canal Authority’s guidance building, known as the historic “Dome Building”, whose fate has recently stirred controversy. The controversy stems from circulating reports that it will be converted into a hotel and wedding hall, after it was completely vacated last year as part of development works that began in 2019 and have still not been completed, without any clear reasons being announced.
The Suez Canal building dates back to 1895, having been built in the reign of Khedive Abbas Helmi II, by direct decision, to guide ships transiting the navigation channel. It was constructed by the French company “Edmond Coignet Contracting”, and its architecture blends Islamic and European styles. The Egyptian flag was raised over the building for the first time in the era of the late President Gamal Abdel Nasser, following the decision to nationalise the canal, which became an Egyptian joint-stock company. The building is located near the northern entrance of the canal, is considered one of the landmarks of Port Said, is registered as an antiquity along with other buildings in the city, and is occupied by the Suez Canal Authority.
In 2019, the Permanent Committee for Islamic and Coptic Antiquities issued a decision approving the project to restore and maintain the Suez Canal Authority building in Port Said, the “Dome Building”, under the supervision of the competent antiquities area and the projects sector of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. Restoration work continued until October 2022, as the head of the Suez Canal Authority, Lieutenant General Osama Rabie, decided in September 2022 to terminate the contract with the Arab Contractors company, which was carrying out the restoration.
Because most of the restoration work, whether structural, architectural or fine restoration, was not completed, the Supreme Council of Antiquities warned of the danger of this delay. It pointed to the nature of Port Said’s coastal environment and the rainy season, as periodic monitoring revealed damage resulting from the halt in restoration. Among this damage, the floor of the wooden corridor on the first floor on the eastern side of the northern wing was damaged by water leaking from an air conditioning unit, which ruined the wood and let water seep into the concrete floor of the ground floor.
Monitoring also showed traces of rainwater leaking inside the southern dome, because the restoration of the ceramic tiles was not completed, which could damage earlier restoration work. In addition, most of the ceilings of the external corridors were damaged by water saturation, because insulation work was not completed, especially in the northern wing.
These details were included in lawsuit No. 185 of judicial year 13, filed by the Ibn Ayoub Center for the Defence of Rights and Freedoms, a copy of which Zawia3 obtained. The lawsuit is directed against the head of the Suez Canal Authority, the Minister of Antiquities and Tourism, the Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities and other officials, demanding a halt to the negative decision of suspending restoration and maintenance work on the building. A hearing to consider the urgent part has been set for 21 October.
Commenting on the lawsuit, Ali Ayoub, a Court of Cassation lawyer, explained to Zawia3 that the Suez Canal building is a registered antiquity on the list of Islamic and Coptic antiquities under Decree No. 229 of 1997, issued by the Minister of Culture and head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities on 16 July 1997 and published in the ninth issue of the Egyptian Gazette (Al-Waqa’i’ Al-Masriya) on 11 January 1998.
Ali Ayoub continues: “This requires the approval of the Ministry of Antiquities, as it supervises restoration work, in order to preserve the historical character of the building.” He explained that the Suez Canal Authority had assigned the development work to the Arab Contractors company at a cost of more than EGP 420 million, 50% of which was paid. He added that the building’s current state is a distortion rather than a development of the historic edifice.
The lawyer noted that what the building has been subjected to constitutes a violation of Article 20 of the Antiquities Law and warrants punishment under Article 43 of the same law, as the building was vacated more than three years ago and restoration work has not yet begun. It was also announced unofficially that the historic building, including the quays and the navigation channel, had been allocated to an investment company (Maxim), which is a clear violation of the law, and he stressed that the halt of restoration work for more than a year threatens the building with collapse.
Article 43 of the Egyptian Constitution stipulates that the state is obliged to protect and develop the Suez Canal as an international waterway it owns, and is committed to developing the canal sector as a distinguished economic centre, while Article 47 stresses the need to preserve Egypt’s diverse cultural identity.
Article 50 of the Constitution states that Egypt’s civilisational and cultural heritage, in all its stages and diversity, is a national and human treasure that the state must protect and maintain, and that attacking this heritage is a crime punishable by law.
A Report to UNESCO
MP Ahmed Farghaly, a member of the House of Representatives for Port Said Governorate, submitted an urgent statement on 7 October to the Prime Minister, the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities and the head of the Suez Canal Authority regarding the vacating of the Suez Canal Authority’s historic “Dome” building since August 2023 on the pretext of development, and the continuing delay in completing the restoration work. The MP expressed concern that the building was being distorted rather than developed, in violation of Article 20 of the Antiquities Law.
Speaking to Zawia3, Farghaly explained that restoration work has not yet begun, pointing to an unofficial allocation of the building and its annexes to the investment company Maxim, which would be a violation of the law if proven. He demanded clarification of the status of the contract concluded with the Arab Contractors company and of the legal basis for Maxim’s dealings with the building.
He also called for disclosure of the reasons behind vacating the building and the waste of public money in moving departments to scattered locations, which has hampered work in the navigation channel because services are now far apart.
It is worth noting that in November 2020, the Suez Canal Authority concluded an agreement with Maxim to develop, manage and operate the facilities attached to the “de Lesseps” rest house, with the aim of turning it into an international hotel. Under this agreement, the authority grants usufruct rights to Maxim, which is responsible for developing the buildings and turning them into a “boutique hotel”.
In the same context, the Heritage and Urban Harmony Center in Port Said, headed by Ashraf El-Sewissy, submitted two letters on 3 October 2024 to the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and to UNESCO, demanding an investigation into what it described as squandering the historical value of the “Dome” building and exposing it to destruction, and accountability for those responsible for this neglect, in reference to the former governor of Port Said, Major General Adel El-Ghadban, and the current head of the Suez Canal Authority, Lieutenant General Osama Rabie.
A Tourist Hotel
Reports circulated over the past few days about the Egyptian government’s desire to sell the historic Dome Building, which the Suez Canal Authority denied, stressing that the development project will not affect the building’s historical and architectural value and that the project’s details will be announced as soon as the feasibility studies and its full plan are completed. This came in response to questions raised about the project to develop the authority’s historic Dome Building and to allegations of wasting public money and selling and leasing the authority’s assets.
The head of the authority, Lieutenant General Osama Rabie, stressed that these allegations are completely untrue, explaining that the project to develop the historic Dome Building will not affect the building’s historical value, but rather involves investing its unique location overlooking the canal to make it an attractive tourist and cultural destination.
On the other hand, MP Ahmed Farghaly rejects leasing the historic building and turning it into a tourist hotel under the pretext of development, noting that this direction reflects a premeditated intention behind the draft law the authority submitted to the House of Representatives in 2022 to establish the Suez Canal Authority investment fund, and is in effect the beginning of the privatisation of the authority’s companies and assets in violation of the law and the Constitution, as he describes it.
From another perspective, Islam Abdel Meguid, a Court of Cassation lawyer, believes the restoration of the historic Dome Building must be completed given its current condition and in accordance with the report of the antiquities authority, stressing that he does not oppose turning the building into a tourist hotel from the perspective of reusing and investing in archaeological sites, which helps boost tourism in Port Said Governorate, which lacks luxury hotels. He noted that the problem is not in using the historic building, as happened with the Citadel of Salah El-Din, but in the damage to the building caused by the failure to complete the restoration and development work.
In his statements to Zawia3, Abdel Meguid pointed to the need for the investment returns from the building to benefit the city through development projects. He explained that the halt in restoration is due to the authority’s desire to assign the building’s development to an investment company that would exploit it for tourism.
In August 2022, similar reports circulated about the sale of the historic Dome Building, which Momen Othman, head of the Museums Sector, denied, saying that no decision had been issued to turn the Dome Building in Port Said Governorate into a tourist hotel, and explaining that the building has been registered in the inventory of Islamic antiquities since 2005 and basically belongs to the Suez Canal Authority.
Reusing Antiquities
The Egyptian government has recently moved towards reusing many archaeological sites, with dozens of palaces turned into school buildings or wedding halls. The most prominent examples include the Prince Mohamed Ali Palace in Manial, part of which was allocated as a wedding hall, and the Baron Palace, which is now used for parties and social events, in addition to the Citadel of Salah El-Din, which is used for weddings and private events.
In this context, architect Amr Abu Tawila, who specialises in the reuse of heritage buildings, says the problem lies in the state’s lack of sufficient financial resources to restore antiquities. He added that the Ministry of Antiquities rarely carries out restoration itself, often relying on international grants dedicated to this purpose.
He explained to Zawia3 that the recent economic crisis and the shortage of foreign currency pushed the government to exploit tourism as a means of bringing in currency, which explains its move to reuse archaeological sites. Although this decision may sometimes be right, some decisions may be hasty and insufficiently studied. He noted that reusing heritage buildings can revive tourism and bring in foreign currency, provided it is done while preserving these places.
Abu Tawila added: “I do not object to using antiquities as a source of income, or turning them into tourist destinations for parties, but implementation must be preceded by careful study and planning. This applies to the Suez Canal Dome Building, which is planned to be turned into a hotel, as well as the Mogamma El-Tahrir. The nature of each building, its type of architecture and the use appropriate to it and its environment must be studied before any decision is taken, but unfortunately this strategy is not applied sufficiently.”
In recent years, the Egyptian state has faced growing criticism over its handling of antiquities, whether because of inappropriate restoration or the demolition of historic sites to implement “national” projects. Among these criticisms is the demolition of Cairo’s historic cemeteries, even though more than 30 tombs are registered on the list of the National Organization for Urban Harmony. Although a committee was formed to decide on the demolition of some tombs listed under “distinctive architectural style”, demolitions are still continuing.
The crisis of demolishing historic cemeteries began in 2021, when the authorities announced plans to develop the Salah Salem axis, which led to the removal of some adjacent tombs. Last August, Cairo’s deputy governor stated that 1,171 tombs and 49 burial grounds near Bab El-Nasr on El-Banhawy Street had been cleared to build a multi-storey car park. The governor of Cairo also recently issued Decision No. 1117 of 2024, halting burials in those cemeteries and moving the remains to alternative sites.
