YEREVAN (EcoLur) — According to “Victims of Eminent Domain” NGO Chairman Sedrak Baghdasaryan, a great deal of historical and cultural buildings that are said to be destroyed in Yerevan. Baghdasaryan points out which buildings throughout the city are expected to be demolished.
He started out mentioned that building number 10 and 12 on Abovyan street are among the buildings. these buildings are where the building belonging to Vazgen Manukyan is located, as well as stone exhibition, and the other building is where Maxim Gorky lived.
Buildings no. 2 and 4 in Pushkin Street will also be destroyed together with fire-brigade center constructed by Buniatyan. Recently, it turned out there are wine jars in the basement of the building at 4 Pushkin Street, where wine was stored in the 18th century. It has been made a decision to destroy building no. 13 Deghatan Street, as well as buildings no. 11, 13 and 15 in Tigran Mets Street.”
According to the certificate prepared by the Interest Protection Department of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, 29 cultural and historical monument-buildings were destroyed in Yerevan from 2000-2006.
“Many cultural and historical monuments were created in the Soviet period, for example, Opera Buildings, the building of the Language Institute located on the crossroad of Abovyan-Sayat Nova streets, where the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia was founded. The architect of this building was a woman – Anna Ter-Avetiqyan. It’s an exclusive case for us, when we had such a well-known female architect and the building she constructed was awarded a golden medal in Paris for its architectural solutions, but now it’s been destroyed. Yerevan railway station was constructed, as well as the Moscow Cinema buildings and its summer cinema, the covered market.”
He listed other cultural and historical buildings, which were destroyed in the early years of independence. “…The cultural and historical monument of Sevan Hotel was destroyed. Yerevan Town Hall used to be in the area of Congress Hotel: it was a two-story black building. The building of the Olympic Committee is also a cultural and historical monument, the half of it has been destroyed and an elite building has been constructed. There are monument buildings, which are protected and can be found in the list of cultural and historical monuments approved by the Armenian Government, but they have already been constructed, for example, Janpoladyan theatre, which later turned into Officer’s House. It used to be Yerevan Theater, where Komitas had a concert and where Anush opera by Tigranyan was first performed. The location of Officer’s House is now one of the most expensive buildings in Yerevan.”
The second appendix of the resolution on cultural and historical monuments gives a list, which says that 14 cultural and historical monuments will be dismantled in 2004. As of today, only four ones haven’t been dismantled. Dismantling a building means destroying it in one location, but reconstructing it in another.. Let the government point out at one of these ten buildings have been dismantled. Baghdasaryan sent an inquiry to the Ministry of Culture, where they replied, “Though the monument was dismantled despite our opinion, the site developer promised to reconstruct this building in another place.”
According to Baghdasaryan, when asked to find out who destroyed the stones of the building or monument and where they have placed them in order to reconstruct it somewhere else, those who dismantled it are unfortunately unaware of where the stones are.
Source: Asbarez
Link: Historical and Cultural Buildings to be Destroyed in Yerevan