Go-ahead for stalled parking lot
A deal was signed yesterday that will lead to a large underground parking garage being constructed in the up-and-coming area of Kerameikos, central Athens, near the recently opened metro station. The five-level parking lot will have space for 285 cars and will be built near the junction of Iera Odos and Pireos Street, in the disused shell of a metro station that was never completed. The site has been lying unused for 10 years. It was initially destined to be the location of the Kerameikos station but work was suspended in 1997 after workers found a large number of antiquities. This led to a new metro station, which opened to the public in May, being constructed in nearby Gazi. However, the shell of the station had already been dug and Greece risked losing European Union funding if it did not make use of the site. The Public Works Ministry has assigned the project to the Kapetanidis ATE construction firm, which aims to complete the project within the next two years.
