Last week, articles appearing in various Lebanese press outlets, in
several languages, reported that the historic Bird’s Nest (Թռչնոց բոյն) Orphanage was being sold to make room for a beach-front
development.
One of the last vestiges of the Armenian genocide, the Bird’s Nest
facility, which was run by the efforts of Near East Relief and founded
by Danish missionary Maria Jacobson, was a refuge for orphans who
survived the genocide and today continues to operate as a safe haven for
underprivileged children under the auspices of the Catholicosate of the
Great House of Cilicia,
The Board of Directors of Bird’s Nest issued an announcement on
Sunday, July 5, 2015 refuting those claims, with its executive director Seta
Khedeshian, in an interview with CiliciaTV, also criticizing the press
for irresponsible reporting that has created furor in the community, as
well as on social media.
The focus of the controversy is a beach front portion of the Bird’s
Nest property that has not been is use for decades. Given the rising
costs of maintaining the facility, the board has leased that portion of
the property, which will be developed by the lessee. After the
completion of the lease, the ownership of that developed property is
slated to revert to the Catholicosate.
Currently, an old building on the soon-to-be-leased portion of the
property, which was a dining hall, is now being used as a church. That
building, which is in poor condition, will be demolished and a new
Armenian church will be constructed, through a $1 million pledge by the
lessee on the perimeter of the current facility.
The development on this portion of the property will provide Bird’s
Nest with much-needed income to continue to serve the children of the
community.
“The income generating project currently under construction at the
bottom half of the orphanage (under the supervision of the Lebanon’s
directorate of antiquities) is to help with the maintenance of the
Orphanage, the Museum, the Armenian Church and the community as a
whole,” said the Bird’s Nest announcement.
“The project was carefully selected out of many proposals, because
the maintenance of our space (30,000 square meters of land) needs
special attention and funding. The financial income will serve to repair
many of the old buildings within the orphanage that would cause a
threat to the inhabitants as well as visitors. Furthermore, the land in
question is not public, it is private and not located within the
perimeters of the Byblos archeological site. All claims that this land
is public and that the implementation of this project restricts the
public access to the sea, are absolutely false and intended to create
problems,” added the announcement.
Khedeshian clarified that no edifice within the facility will be
demolished. In fact, she pointed to additions and renovations to the
current facility, which will greatly enhance Bird’s Nest and make it a
focal point for community service, as well as it historic significance.
One of those improvements is related to an abandoned cemetery on the
site of the proposed development. The remains of those interred at the
cemetery, which include some orphans of the genocide but mainly of
Bird’s Nest staff members, will be exhumed and transferred closer to
where founder Maria Jacobson—known as Mama—is interred, making it a
focal point of the facility.
“The abandoned cemetery, which is currently in very bad shape and in
an insecure location, is carefully planned to be relocated next to Miss
Maria Jacobsen’s grave (The founder of the Orphanage) and the new
Museum, in order to showcase the importance of the cemetery,” said the
announcement.
A decade ago, the board of directors of the Bird’s Nest embarked on a
project to build an Armenian Genocide orphans’ museum on the site of
the orphanage to memorialize the surviving orphans and pay tribute to
the founders of the orphanage. The museum will have its official opening
next week, with an inauguration ceremony to be presided over by His
Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia.
“The museum design consists of artifacts, photos and a collective
cemetery of the children and employees buried within the Bird’s Nest
compound to portray to the world the daily life of the orphans,”
explained the Bird’s Nest Board announcement.
Khedeshian also discussed the refurbishing of the dormitories, which
is being sponsored by benefactor Aleco Bezikian. The completed
dormitories will be named for the benefactor’s son, Zareh.
The Bird’s Nest board clarified in its announcement that recent press
headlines “are deliberately false, manipulative and intentionally
omitting facts intended to provoke unjustified emotions against both
projects. Far from being under any threat, the historical Bird’s Nest
orphanage is thriving and becoming more important.”
Khedeshian also echoed similar sentiments in her interview.
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