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CERCUL MILITAR NAŢIONAL
jective. The issue was first debated by the Senate in
the legislative session of 1896-1897. In the session of
March 19, 1897, Senator D. Costescu-Comănescu pre-
sented the argument and the legislative project re-
garding the transfer of the Sărindar plot of land into
the ownership of the Ministry of War.
On March 24, 1897, the legislative project was
voted by the Senate, being approved with 50 votes
for and 36 against. It represented a first victory, but,
in order to seal the transfer, the legislative project had
to be approved by the Chamber of Deputies, as well.
The wish of the officers from the Bucharest garrison
to achieve this as quickly as possible did not material-
ize because of political complications, the cabinet led
by P.S. Aurelian being replaced by a new one, led by
Dimitrie A. Sturdza.
The latter introduced the project in the new leg-
islative session that was scheduled to start in the sec-
ond half of November 1897. The debate got delayed
several times, something that prompted the Minister
of War, General Anton Berindei, to ask the deputies, on
March 11, 1898, to finally discuss it in an emergency
session, so that the construction could begin “during
this spring”.
The project was adopted by the Chamber of Dep-
uties with 67 votes for and 5 abstentions, the majority
that was needed being of 47 votes. On April 5, 1898,
King Carol I promulgated the Law no. 1461, which au-
thorized the Ministry of Public Domains to transfer to
the Ministry of War the plot of land situated between
Queen Elisabeta Boulevard and Sărindar Street, free of
charge.
Getting the plot of land for the future palace rep-
resented a major victory for the Military Club and for
the military elite of the country. The location of the
building not only met all the requirements that such
an institution presupposed, but also had a special his-
torical significance, as this was the place where the
Sărindar Monastery functioned for centuries, since it
was founded by
Domnitor
Matei Basarab (1632-1654).
Once thismajor obstaclewas overcome, it seemed
that the construction of the future palace will start
soon. In early May 1998, General Eraclie Arion, the
commander of the Second Army Corps, summoned
the general assembly of the officers from the Bucha-
rest garrison, members of the Military Club, in order to
discuss the measures that had to be adopted in order
to solve two major matters: the project of the future
palace and the cost estimate. The gathering decided
to create a commission comprising ten members – led
by the commander of the Second Army Corps –, which
had the task to organize a competition for the project
of the future palace and to find the sources of finance,
given that the Military Club was a private association
of the officers.
The competition unfolded during the second half
of 1898, five projects being submitted, each being ac-
companied by a motto. At the beginning of 1899, they
were displayed for the general public at the Romanian
Athenaeum. Eventually, the commission chose the
project of architect Dimitrie Maimarolu (the “deluxe”
project). Thewinner received a prize of 30,000 lei, while
the other participants were offered 6,000 lei each.
TogetherwithDimitrieMaimarolu, thecommission
established the total cost estimate. The construction
of the building was estimated at 1,310,000 lei, without
ornaments and accessories, and 2,600,000 with them.
Now that the plot of land was available and that the
project was ready, it seemed there were no more ob-
stacles for the work to start in 1900, as scheduled.
The financial problems proved to be more com-
plicated than expected and finding a contractor to
erect the building was very difficult, all in the context
of the economic crisis from the beginning of the 20
th
