We gave the “Pearl Palace” to the filming group for the wedding party that we did not hold
Meanwhile, “Pearl Palace” has been waiting for years to be restored and reopened to the public, which has recently become the location of a series of films. Used, not for a wedding party.
Charso Press: “Pearl Palace” was the residence of Shams Pahlavi (Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s sister), which was built by Wright Institute, designed and supervised by engineer William Casey, between 1347-1345 (1968-1966 AD). According to the available documents, this complex was owned by Mustafafan Foundation in 1363 by the decision of the Revolutionary Court, after that, this complex was handed over to the Revolutionary Guards Cooperative Foundation through a contract, and that foundation also paid for the cost of issuing a construction permit for about 80 hectares of this complex. , he gives the residential buildings of the Shams Palace complex to the municipality, and after a complaint, a part of this historical complex is entrusted to the cultural heritage. In the early 1980s, this complex was registered in the list of national monuments with number 7067 and for some time it was used as a museum under the name of Shahid Fahmideh military-entertainment complex.
In these years, although it has been registered in the list of national monuments, the Pearl Palace has been severely damaged and destroyed due to the lack of integrated management and supervision of cultural heritage and improper use, and many of the works and tools in it have been missing.
In recent years, many promises have been made to restore this complex, Fereydun Mohammadi – the former Director General of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts of Alborz Province – told ISNA about the latest situation of the Pearl Palace in early September 1401: Currently, with the approval of the Karaj Prosecutor, the exploitation of the Pearl Palace It has been entrusted to Alborz Cultural Heritage Administration, but its ownership is still with the IRGC Cooperation Foundation. Also, with one billion Tomans of credit that we received from the National Credit Center, we plan to repair the roof and restore the roof.
Mohammadi announced some time later (23 Shahrivar 1401) that the Pearl Palace will be reopened as a museum of lessons for the public by the order of the Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts.
Meanwhile, it is worth considering to give parts of the Pearl Palace space to the film-making group. Despite the fact that the restoration and protection of this historical complex is in limbo and is stuck with a lack of credit, this complex has become a filming location for a series. In the second episode of the “Actor” series, which is being broadcast these days on the home television network, views of Karaj Pearl Palace can be seen, while parts of it have become the place of a party and a large crowd is present there. In a scene from the movie, a view from inside the palace is shown while the condition of the roof and its damages can be easily seen.
The presence of the camera crew in this historical place, while according to the instructions of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts, filming for the production of movies and TV series is prohibited in historical places. Apart from how to issue a filming license in this historical place and the concern of the possible damage caused by the presence of the film crew, which has a long history, another issue is the economic exploitation of the Pearl Palace, which has been pending for years for restoration and protection, and it is not known how much the palace itself will benefit from these projects. ? Of course, this is not the first time that the Pearl Palace is exploited economically; The open area of this complex becomes a place for exhibitions and gatherings from time to time.
Pearl Palace (Shams)
Shahbaz Mahmoudi – Deputy of Cultural Heritage of Alborz Province About the presence of the filmmaker group in this historical place, he said: The first thing about the Pearl Palace is that the structure of this complex is healthy and has no problems. We had two damages in the Pearl Palace complex, one in the lake and the other in the roof of the great hall. In the late 80s, there was heavy snow and the roof of this hall was completely destroyed, but there is no damage or problem in the structure of this palace. This series was filmed in a hall that does not have a roof and also on a bridge that is in the outer area of the palace, and the inner area of the palace was not used at all. This action was carried out with the coordination of time management and the presence of the security unit.
He added: The filming of this series took three or four nights in the Pearl Palace and was only done during the night. During it, no damage was done to the building. This building is historical and cultural and was used for a cultural event, not for a wedding celebration.
The Deputy Minister of Cultural Heritage of Alborz province said about the state of reopening and the final fate of the Pearl Palace: The Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts visited the Pearl Palace in September this year and ordered its reopening so that it can be visited by the public. We did the initial cleaning and wrote a letter to the ministry that the initial steps have been taken and there are some problems to reopen. According to the latest decisions of the ministry, it was decided that public visits will not be held for the time being. “Pearl Palace” is under the ownership of IRGC Cooperation Foundation and it does not belong to cultural heritage and it needs 120 to 130 billion Tomans budget to restore it to its original state. With government credits, its restoration cannot be realized, and with these funds, its restoration will take 10 to 15 years. My suggestion is that the restoration of this palace should be entrusted to the private sector so that it can be restored more easily.
He added: Considering that Cultural Heritage does not own the building, it cannot take any action in this regard, but we have raised the proposal with the Minister of Cultural Heritage and it was decided to hold a meeting to come up with a tripartite memorandum between Cultural Heritage, Private sector investor and owner, measures should be taken for this palace. If the government can provide them with land equal to the 110 hectares owned by the IRGC Cooperative Foundation in the “Pearl Palace”, and if the cultural heritage can fully take over the ownership of the palace, this action can be done.
Referring to the budget of one billion that was allocated for the restoration of the roof of the palace, Mahmoudi said about the latest state of restoration of this building: the restoration of the roof of the “Pearl Palace” needs seven billion tomans of funds, and nothing can be done with one billion of the budget. We considered the 1 billion budget that was allocated for the restoration of other parts. The roof of the cinema hall has water leakage and the windows around the palace are broken due to cold and heat, so we are in the process of restoring these parts and the toilets of the complex.