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 CHICAGO, October 25 -- The ground dedication for the first Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center in America by Athens Mayor Dora Bakoyannis culminates a month-long series of activities for World SAE President Andrew A. Athens and sets the stage for his visit to California and the annual banquet of the United Hellenic American Congress (UHAC) November 12.
Athens Mayor Dora Bakoyannis and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley led the ceremony yesterday on historic Halsted Street where the demolition of an old warehouse is making way for the construction of a the four-story museum. President of the Museum, which has its own board of directors, is Chicago businessman John Marks.
The cities of Athens and Chicago are bound by the International Sister Cities program. Mr. Athens, as National Chairman of UHAC, praised the two mayors and their plans to create �garden� cities in Greece and in the U.S. On Sunday evening, Mrs. Bakoyannis was the guest of honor at a special dinner-dance attended by about 400 people at the �Odyssey� country club.
The city of Chicago is providing for the purchase of the land and the construction of the museum about $3.5 million through a special taxation program (Tax Increment Financing). Major contributions include $2 million by John P. Calamos Sr., CEO of Calamos Investments, and $1 million by Dr. Mary Dochios Kamberos. Smaller contributions are provided by many members of the greater Chicago area Omogeneia.
Mr. Athens will also participate in the festivities for the Mitsotakis family in California, on the occasion of inaugurating the Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis Professorship created at Stanford University in honor of Constantine Mitsotakis, former Prime Minister of Greece. A reception on October 27 in San Francisco, and a dinner on October 30 in Sacramento will honor Constantine Mitsotakis and his children, Mayor Bakoyannis and Kyriakos Mitsotakis, a member of the Greek Parliament.
The annual banquet of UHAC will honor Ambassador John D. Negroponte, who is Director of National Intelligence and a former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Iraq. For more information and reservations for UHAC�s annual banquet call +312-640-1055.
Photo: Athens Mayor Dora Bakoyanni holding a drawing of the Chicago Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center, the first in America, with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley (right). From left area Andrew A. Athens, National Chairman of UHAC and President of World SAE; Consul General of Greece Aliki Hadji; Alderman Walter Burnett,and John Marks, President of the Museum (left). On the far right is Deputy Mayor of Athens Thodoros Skylakakis. UHAC, under Mr. Athens, contracted with the City of Chicago for the landscape upgrading of the historic Greektown district and the partial financing of the construction of the museum through city taxes collected locally. (Photo James Peterson)
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