Bucharest Pinacoteca – Renovation of Dacia-Romania Palace, over 104 million lei

The renovation works on the Dacia-Romania Palace, which will house the Bucharest Art Gallery, will begin after the contractor has been appointed, with the procurement procedure currently underway, and will cost more than 104 million lei, according to details provided by the Bucharest City Hall at the curator’s request.

The schedule for the project “Seismic consolidation and energy efficiency improvement of the building of public interest and utility located at 18-20 Lipscani Street, Sector 3, Bucharest” is set by the Municipal Administration for the Consolidation of Buildings with Seismic Risk (A.M.C.C.R.S.). The project is financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF).

Curatorial requested details from PMB after a new edition of Art Safari was announced for September 5–December 14, 2025, at the Dacia-Romania Palace, and in June this year, representatives of the Friends of the Bucharest Municipal Art Gallery Association said that the palace must be vacated by August 6 so that renovation and consolidation work on this historic building, which is to house the collection administered by the Bucharest Municipality Museum (MMB).

The Friends of the Bucharest Pinacoteca Association announced in early August that a new contract had been signed by the Bucharest City Hall with the Art Society Cultural Center Foundation, valid until February 15, 2026, and expressed concern about this postponement.

The works, completed in 3 years

The City Hall responded to curatorial request: “We agreed to extend the deadline proposed by the Art Society Cultural Center Foundation (until February 15, 2026) considering that we are in the process of acquiring works, which is taking place according to the following schedule: on July 23, 2025, announcement CN1083805 was published in SEAP for participation in an open tender regarding the start of the procedure for awarding the works contract; between 17.09 and 11.12.2025, the bids will be evaluated, followed by the period for submitting appeals; if appeals are submitted, the deadline for concluding the contract will be extended by 20 days.

Therefore, work will begin after the contractor has been appointed, once the procurement procedure has been completed.

Regarding the estimated budget required for the first phase of the project—renovation, consolidation, and rehabilitation—the City Hall explained: “The cost of the works is 104,560,080.12 lei excluding VAT, which also includes the cost of the works to be carried out on the part of the building belonging to CEC BANK (there is a partnership agreement between AMCCRS and CEC Bank, whereby CEC Bank will reimburse AMCCRS for their share of the contribution). A building must be fully consolidated to ensure its safety. The consolidation works are carried out on the entire building, under the coordination of a single contractor, contracted by AMCCRS (in this case). Two contractors cannot work simultaneously on the same building.

The deadline for completion of the works is 36 months from the date of issuance of the order to commence works to the contractor, as further specified by PMB at the request of the curatorial committee.