Kanaz cultural center to become STEAM education hub

PanARMENIAN.Net - The former Kanaz cultural center, which was returned to the Yerevan community by court decision in 2024, will be transformed into a STEAM educational platform under a new project. This was announced on Facebook by Yerevan mayor’s spokesperson Artyom Karapetyan.

Under the new project, the architectural appearance of the building will be preserved.

“Until 2024, the building had been in private ownership since 2017, held by the ‘Art Alphabet’ cultural foundation, which over 10 years failed to make the promised 480 million drams in investments, leaving the building in a, to put it mildly, deplorable condition. After the restoration of community ownership rights, reconstruction work had not yet begun, and vandals repeatedly broke into the building, damaged locks, and caused further harm, after which the doors were locked again.

Fortunately, the façade of the building was not affected by the fire; mainly the roof and interior finishing were burned and damaged.

Under the new project, the unsafe building will be restored and repurposed. Its architectural identity will be preserved, and its mission will remain the same—serving as an educational platform that will return hundreds of children to a modern, more comprehensive cultural and scientific learning environment. The concept is based on creating a ‘STEAM’ center, a multifunctional platform combining science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics,” Karapetyan wrote.

A criminal case has been launched over a fire that broke out in the inactive four-story building of the former Kanaz cultural center.

On March 25 at 19:12, the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Rescue Service received a report of a fire at 19 Azatutyan Avenue in Yerevan. The fire was extinguished after more than four and a half hours, at 23:44. Firefighters managed to prevent the spread of the fire to the first floor and nearby residential buildings.