MIA: Three people arrested over Kanaz Community Center arson

ArmInfo.  The MIA Police  have detained three people in connection with the arson attack on the Kanaz Community Center, a building that holds the status of a local cultural landmark.

" On March 27, as a result of joint efforts by the Ministry of  Internal Affairs' public police and the National Security Service,  the suspects in the arson attack on March 25 inside the building on  Azatutyan Avenue were identified. Three individuals have been taken  to the Yerevan investigative agency,"  Narek Sargsyan, press  secretary for the Armenian Ministry of Internal Affairs, said.

He stated that preliminary information indicates that three minors  entered the building, played the guitar, and set fire to the property  to keep warm, causing the fire. A preliminary investigation is  underway.

The fire in the building broke out on the evening of March 25.  Rescuers battled the fire until late into the night. The building,  designed by architects Sos Manukyan and Vilen Tonikyan in 1958,  served as the cultural center (club) of the Kanaker Aluminum Plant  (Kanaker Aluminum Plant - KANAZ). In 2017, by the decision of the  Yerevan City Council, the cultural center was transferred to the  Azbuka Iskusstva Cultural Foundation (Director: People's Artist of  the Republic of Armenia Hrant Tokhatyan) free of charge for 10 years  to establish a children's cultural center (school and theater).

The Yerevan Prefecture assured that it has no plans to demolish the  former cultural center of the Kanaz Plant; it will be reconstructed  and used for the benefit of the capital's residents.