Palace of the Republic To Stay Open to Public

A day after a Bundestag committee re-confirmed its decision to tear down the city's beleagured Palace of the Republic despite public lobbying, Berlin's senator for culture Thomas Flierl (PDS) revealed Thursday that the building will be remaining open for arts and culture events until its scheduled demolition in summer 2005. Until now, the venue was due to close on November 12. Günter Nooke from the CDU/CSU stressed that any further postponement was unacceptable. "Every Bundestag party agrees that no public funds will be made available for use of the Palace," he argued. "Contributing taxpayers' money to this cause is not a constructive investment."