1,079 buildings in facelift bid
Over a thousand buildings in the center of Athens have been included in a massive facelift program organized by government and municipal authorities to prettify the capital ahead of the August Olympics, Athens Mayor Dora Bakoyannis said yesterday. Rejecting criticism that the 4.5-million-euro campaign has met with little public interest, Bakoyannis told a press conference that approval has been granted for work to paint the facades of 1,079 buildings, while this figure is expected to reach 1,500 by the end of May. The mayor described the majority of the capital’s buildings as «drab, neglected, lacking identity, with their external appearance wounded by the passage of time.» «There are buildings that have lost their architectural identity, indifferent, dirty buildings,» she said. «We are all responsible for this state of affairs.» Most of the buildings that have been or will be repainted are in the center of town. Work has already finished on 26 buildings on Kifissias Avenue, 22 on Alexandras and 21 on Vassilissis Sofias.
