The agency that manages the Saigon Central Post Office – one of Ho Chi Minh City’s icons – may be unaware of the Vietnamese heritage law and did not seek permission for its restoration, according to a culture official.
The Saigon Central Post Office is seen in this 2004 file photo.
Truong Kim Quan, director of the Relic Preservation Center under the city’s Department of Culture and Sports, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Thursday that the Ho Chi Minh City Post did not obtain a permit to revamp the post office, which was built in 1891.
Quan talked with Tuoi Tre amid expert criticisms of the new coating of the edifice after restoration work began on it in August last year.
The new coating is part of a major ongoing facelift at the Saigon Central Post Office, located at No. 2 Cong Xa Paris Street in District 1.
The century-old edifice, which is of immense historical and cultural value and is now one of the city’s major tourist attractions, is a stone’s throw from the Saigon Notre-Dame Cathedral, another signature structure in the downtown area.
This is the first time the building, which was constructed by a French company and is rich in French architecture elements, has undergone a major restoration process in 40 years.
The facelift mostly consists of applying a new layer of paint with a brighter shade of yellow and a coating of nanomaterials, as well as making repairs to the roof and walls which have been dripping and scaling from years of use.
The restoration work is expected to be completed in time for the Lunar New Year celebration in February.
Working and opening hours remain unchanged at the building during the revamp.
However, the building’s bright new shade of yellow has drawn ire among the public and local historians, architects, and artists over the past few days.
They are all of the opinion that the new shade of yellow is overly bright and intense for such an old, French-style edifice.
The new shade, which is a far cry from the original tasteful yellow, is ridiculously incongruous with the edifice’s elegant green windows and tasteful white lines, and thus has become out of place with its surroundings in the downtown area, the experts complained.
Representatives of the Ho Chi Minh City Post explained that the new paint will fade to the original color after being used for some time and being exposed to the elements.
They also stressed that the new shade of yellow is the industry’s signature color.
However, several experts find that such 'excuses' are feeble and totally unacceptable and just add fuel to the fire.
Not yet recognized, but deserving due treatment
Though the edifice has yet to be ranked a relic, it has been enlisted in the city’s relic inventory and is currently being inspected and assessed for relic recognition, Quan, the director of the Relic Preservation Center, said.
His reply came in response to earlier claims that the Ho Chi Minh City Post can revamp the building at their own will considering that it has not yet earned relic recognition.
Also on the relic inventory are several of the city’s signature structures, such as Ben Thanh Market, the headquarters of the District 1 People’s Committee, and Tan Dinh Market, also in District 1, Quan added.
According to the Cultural Heritage Law, the structures in the inventory are entitled to the same treatment as that for recognized sites from 2010 to 2015.
“Any interference with such structures is supposed to get the green light from the People’s Committee. The consulting- construction unit must submit its dossier to the local culture department to seek the committee’s approval,” Quan stressed.
He added his department has yet to receive such a dossier from the Ho Chi Minh City Post regarding the facelift.
“In my opinion, the revamp is well-meaning and is meant to beautify the edifice. However, the building’s managing agency perhaps has not fully grasped the Cultural Heritage Law, which is commonplace among many managing units of such age-old structures,” Quan elaborated.
His department has requested the Ho Chi Minh City Post to submit a dossier for the edifice’s relic recognition within this year.
Quan added the department will work with the Ho Chi Minh City Post on fixing the controversial paint job.
Source: Tuoi Tre News
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