How did you choose Tobacco City as a location to develop your business?

My decision to establish the first in Bulgaria sports center - a multipurpose gym and squash club in a Western way - was shaped in my head in the year 2002. This was at the time when I got back for good in Bulgaria permanently after several years of living abroad.

What is the effect of place on your business?

The reason I chose this particular tobacco warehouse and this place derived by the fact that I was in a search for a specific building that has a height of at least 5.50 meters at one of the floors so I can position the squash courts - something that I insisted. Of course, my travels in Europe had shaped the idea of old industrial buildings with good location to be transformed for the project needs and this idea got my own. There was an option to look for a land to implement a fast way modern construction fitness club type multi-sport, but at the end, I choose the old tobacco warehouse. Two things startled me – the terrible appearance of the building inside and out (respectively surrounding buildings) and the relatively vast area that quite exceeded my initial idea. What reassured me was the good structure of the building - reinforced concrete. Thе fact that is was not on the timber joists was in help and therefore the shorter deadline for entry into service. On the other hand- however- the reconstruction of all the spaces had to comply with the existing structure. Also, a huge-scale destructive and wrecking work in the building on each floor had to be performed- there were dozens of massive fireproof blocks fermentation chambers for the process of fermentation of tobacco.

Furthermore, the work on the facade had to be approved by the National Institute for Cultural Monuments / NICM/of Ministry of Culture, as the building was a monument of culture and it was part of the ensemble architectural monument. Design and reconstruction were performed for about 11 months. In the month of November 2003 Total Sport opened! Situated on 3000 m2 in two buildings (old and new), two squash courts, gym, separate rooms for spinning, aerobics, yoga, massage and rehabilitation rooms, four dressing rooms, solariums, saunas, room for measurements, fresh, smoothie & coffee bar, protein bar, office, technical and service rooms. For 13 years in the club passed 23,000 unique clients,  classes in 13 different sports were developed, we have the most famous instructors in the city, we have hosted over 100 public events and we have provided space for the unique farmer's market for bioproduction in the city.

The opening of Total Sport in an old tobacco warehouse shocked plovdivians (I remember it very well!) And that was for two reasons - how anything can happen in these horrible buildings of this dark, dirty and smelling of damp tobacco place ( cigarette factory was still working) and what was this gym, which is 3000 m2, and even a squash is there. At that time, the largest fitness club was about 800 m2 and was located in Sofia. In this aspect, the place (Tobacco city) has not helped me but rather obstructed me, but I was convinced that once when people dare to come - from Plovdiv and guests of the city - they will appreciate the uniqueness and atmosphere and will like what we did.

Have you used templates and examples from other cities for renovation of the building and the interior; what inspired you?

The idea to turn the first floor into an art space and thus to do the most natural thing -  to gather two long-separated things together again - physical and spiritual culture as it has been since the days of ancient Greece (remember the schools of Pythagoras, for example) -was implemented in the first year. During the repair works, we found that under stucco permeated with the smell of tobacco on the first floor there is 80 cm-wall, made of single bricks of genuine clay produced 90 years ago. They stood like porcelain! Easily we decided together with the designer Lina Zaykova that will uncover and clean it fully then will cover it with a matte varnish for stone and thus it remains visible throughout the concrete - columns, beams and slabs. What happened, I admit, exceeded our expectations. (So the first floor was composed of two squash courts, reception, cafe, area for dancing, cultural and social events, which later was further developed in exhibition space with proper lighting and systems for paintings disposition). For around 13 years it was a place for dozens of exhibitions, themed events, discussions, workshops, theater and musical performances, fashion shows, wine degustation events, etc. Total sport was and is a frequent host of events and campaigns aimed at raising funds for various causes and charities. For the last two years, the art space on the first floor is a preferred place for New Year's Ball of Plovdiv State Opera employees and artists.

Often I have been asked - where from did you get the idea and if I used any examples. I think the most accurate way to reply is to say that all this somehow has complied in my head but I do not think I've invented something new. I have not copied any particular experience or example - no, it was more a result of accumulation over time. The process continues today. What I do have is my creation, I can`t just copy because it will not inspire me. Over the years my idea had formed inside me – I saw Total Sport as a place where people feel good, socialize and take care of the temple of the soul – in healthy and aesthetically way (each person finds the balance between both) and where the culture in general also found one of its peers in the city. I think it turned well.

What is your opinion on how can business and art interact?

The future of tobacco city I can see this way: considering that the property there is a 100% private (in the hands of companies and individuals) and that most of it consists of buildings of the tobacco factory built in time of the socialism and respectively buildings do not have the status of cultural monument, I think it will be revived in projects which will consist of residential, commercial and office space. We can only hope for good architecture and performance but can not be sure whether they will be this way. There is no way to protect it. The image and the spirit of tobacco city, however, lies and can be saved if the citizens and municipal authorities demand by the investors in the projects to reconstruct the declared cultural monuments responsibly - which means preserving appearance as a minimum. Of course, there is no way for private business to be forced to execute projects with certain content. Evidently, there are defining economic indicators – investment size, return of the investment over a period, profitability, etc. This is understandable. Today in Bulgaria there are no more people like Kudoglu or brothers Evlogi and Hristo Georgievi who are willing to donate substantially. Taking into account everything said here so far on the future of tobacco city, I think it would be good for the Municipality to acquire one of the buildings, declared as monument of culture and to develop a project in public-private partnership with a proven partner that is socially and culturally significant, project that will set the trend to investors and will give appearance of the neighborhood, that will perform cultural and social functions. It would have been good this initiative to include people from Plovdiv who love their city - to financially support the project according to the capabilities and to do this through the instrument of crowdfunding. Then we will fill with a meaning the slogan TOGETHER!

11 May 2016

Here are links for some of the collaboration we had with Galero:

Tobacco city - shate this space - 19.12.2015

Easter market - 30.04.2016

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