On August 30, 2005, it was announced that after September 15, the Tbilisi Palace of Youth and Children would be relocated from its historic building to the former Ballet School on Chikobava Street, while the International Choreography Center would take over the original premises. The director of the Palace was informed of the decision two days earlier by the city administration, but the Ministry of Culture and the public learned about it only later. No official decree had yet been issued.

On September 1, the political party New Rights organized a protest in front of the Palace, joined by prominent public figures — former members of the Mziuri youth ensemble and cultural icons such as Nineli Chankvetadze, Zurab Qipshidze, Irakli Kakabadze, and Ramaz Sakvarelidze. Demonstrators expressed outrage at Tbilisi Mayor Gigi Ugulava’s statement that the Palace was a “communist relic.”

President Mikheil Saakashvili, speaking at a parliamentary majority meeting in Borjomi, announced that the transfer of the Palace to the Vakhtang Chabukiani Ballet Studio was temporarily suspended. He ordered a thorough review of the situation to ensure that “no student or teacher has reason to doubt the fairness of the final decision.”

Following the president’s statement, the Palace’s director, Gia Shalamberidze, confirmed that the institution was no longer under threat of closure or relocation.