Green spaces for 2004
Athens is to acquire several large parks by 2004 as part of a plan to «green» large areas of the city by the 2004 Olympic Games, according to a 463.68-million-euro project announced yesterday by Environment and Public Works Minister Vasso Papandreou. One of the largest projects is a 14-hectare «third city square» (after Syntagma and Omonia) in the old district of Kerameikos, near the revamped gasworks, now a cultural center. The perimeters of the new square include the Kerameikos archaeological site, the old trolley-bus depot which is being moved to nearby Rouf, the abandoned vegetable market, the train tracks along Constantinoupoleos Avenue, and the corner of Ermou Street and Pireos. Another district which will see major changes is Alexandras Avenue, where a two-hectare space next to the Elpis Hospital, including the decrepit Koundouriotika apartments built to house refugees from Asia Minor in 1922 will be refurbished. Papandreou said that a total of 820,000 trees and 14 million shrubs will be planted over a 415-hectare area. The ministry has given the Institute for Mineral Exploration (IGME) six months to find the water needed to irrigate these plants, estimated at about 20,800 cubic meters per day. The four are also being investigated by an Athens prosecutor.
